Yet another CIA Torture Scandal

by Deb Cupples |   Via Memeorandum, Newsweek has an interesting article that begins as follows:

"A long-suppressed report by the Central Intelligence Agency's inspector general to be released next week reveals that CIA interrogators staged mock executions as part of the agency's post-9/11 program to detain and question terror suspects, NEWSWEEK has learned.

"According to two sources—one who has read a draft of the paper and one who was briefed on it—the report describes how one detainee, suspected USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, was threatened with a gun and a power drill during the course of CIA interrogation. According to the sources, who like others quoted in this article asked not to be named while discussing sensitive information, Nashiri's interrogators brandished the gun in an effort to convince him that he was going to be shot. Interrogators also turned on a power drill and held it near him. "The purpose was to scare him into giving [information] up," said one of the sources. A federal law banning the use of torture expressly forbids threatening a detainee with 'imminent death.'"

See the rest of the story here.  Yes, federal law does prohibit threats of "imminent death" [see 18 U.S. Code 2340(a) and 2340]

Comments

[Criminal Defence Law]

I especially like the maxim that perfectly describes the secrecy policy: “the greater the abuse, the more important it is that it should remain secret.

[Roxanne]

Such as sad situation. It is a nice thing to make the people aware of what is going on.