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Report: CIA's torture methods exceeded legal authority

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:35PM GMT

The CIA's justification for the use of torture methods during the presidency of George W. Bush was based on faulty legal reasoning, according to a classified US Senate report.

The CIA also issued erroneous claims about how many people it subjected to torture techniques such as simulated drowning known as waterboarding, the McClatchy news service reported on Thursday, citing the classified report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

In addition, the CIA used torture methods that were not approved by its own headquarters or the US Justice Department, prevented White House oversight, and actively evaded oversight both by Congress and its own Inspector General, the report added.

The US spy agency also gave incorrect information to the US Justice Department, which used that information to conclude that the methods would not break the law because those applying them did not specifically intend to inflict severe pain or suffering.

McClatchy's report was based on the Senate report's 20 main conclusions which were obtained by the news service.

Human rights activists have called for the immediate declassification of the entire 6,300-page report, which still remains secret.

'The report's findings appear to show that the CIA systematically misled Congress, the White House, and the Department of Justice about its brutal and unlawful interrogation program,' said Raha Wala, senior counsel at Human Rights First in Washington.

"How does it make sense for the president to allow the CIA to take charge of declassifying a report that shows unlawful and embarrassing conduct on its part?' she asked.

Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to make public parts of the blistering report prepared by the committee which provides details of the CIA's torture techniques – including waterboarding, wall-slamming, and shackling.

According to Politico, US President Barack Obama is the one who decides whether the summary should be further redacted before being disclosed. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Senate panel's Democratic chairwoman, has said she hoped the Obama administration would declassify the report within 30 days.

The vote to declassify a summary of the massive 6,300-page report followed an unprecedented clash between Feinstein and the CIA. Feinstein accused the agency of spying on her panel staff who compiled it and the CIA accused Senate Intelligence Committee staff members of illegally obtaining CIA documents.

AHT/ISH