Detainee alleges CIA abuse
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – A high-value detainee who was in CIA custody for more than four years has alleged that his American captors tortured him into making false confessions about terrorist attacks in the Middle East, according to newly released Pentagon transcripts of a March 14 military tribunal hearing here.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who U.S. officials believe was involved in the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and allegedly organized the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, told a panel of military officers that he was repeatedly tortured during his imprisonment and that he admitted taking part in numerous terrorism plots because of the mistreatment.
“The detainee states that he was tortured into confession and once he made a confession his captors were happy and they stopped torturing him,” al-Nashiri’s representative read to the tribunal, according to the transcript. “Also, the detainee states that he made up stories during the torture in order to get it to stop.”
Nashiri’s allegations came just days after Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, also alleged abuse during a similar hearing before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal at this island detention facility, though his claims were submitted on paper and have not been released.
It is impossible to confirm or evaluate al-Nashiri’s allegations regarding his interrogation by the CIA. U.S. government officials often caution that suspected terrorists are trained to allege abuse at the hands of captors, and portions of the 36-page transcript that appeared to detail the locations and methods of the alleged abuse were redacted. But such allegations could call into question the veracity of al-Nashiri’s interrogations and those of other detainees previously held at secret CIA prisons, and could make trying the men at military commissions difficult if the alleged coercion elicited misleading information.
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the CIA cited “national security concerns” regarding the locations of detention facilities, interrogation techniques and operational details as rationale for the redactions.
Abuse allegations are generally referred to the CIA inspector general’s office, which investigates from within. Defense Department and intelligence officials said Friday that allegations made during the CSRT process will be forwarded to the government agency said to be responsible for abuse.
“I’m not going to respond to those sorts of allegations other than to emphasize that the CIA’s terrorist interrogation program has been conducted lawfully, with great care and close review, producing vital information that has helped disrupt terrorist plots and save lives,” said Mark Mansfield, a CIA spokesman.