CIA torture report exposes grisly 'enhanced interrogation' techniques

Thirteen years after the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. by the terrorist group al Qaeda, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a 500-page assessment of the program of harsh interrogation and detention used by the Central Intelligence Agency from 2002 to 2007 on more than a hundred members of the terrorist organization after their capture.

The document (available here) reaches several conclusions, most notably that the techniques used by the CIA in detention centres, in the aftermath of 9/11 and heightened concerns about terrorism, did not actually work. 

"While being subjected to the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques and afterwards, multiple CIA detainees fabricated information, resulting in faulty intelligence," the report reads. 

The report also shows that the CIA misrepresented the details of its treatment of prisoners, both during interrogation and during their confinement. Policymakers were kept in the dark about the exact techniques and procedures used to extract information from prisoners. The press was also given inaccurate information.

Two psychologists were employed by the CIA to develop interrogation techniques, receiving $81million between 2005 and 2009. The psychologists had no experience in interrogation nor background in counter-terrorism but were recruited to develop 'enhanced interrogation techniques'.

These techniques included sleep deprivation, water boarding, the sensory deprivation and mock burial. A method for keeping inmates awake was the continuous blasting of music. Inmates were restrained by one or both wrists for extended periods of time and were kept in dark cells for most of their incarceration. 

An interrogation log leaked in 2008 lays out a 'torture playlist', though security personnel often selected other music as well. Preferred tracks include selections from the heavy metal genre, as well as songs by popular artists such as Christina Aguilera, the Bee Gees and Prince. Television advertisement jingles and children's television anthems - including the theme song to 'Barney and Friends' - were also used.

The publication of the report has caused outrage from both the general public and the international political community. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights advocates have called for prosecutions. Lawyers believe the report will help the prosecution of CIA agents in Europe.