Red Cross Says Detainees Reported Abuse
Tuesday March 20, 2007 11:01 PM
By KATHERINE SHRADER – Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – Terror detainees once held in the CIA’s secret prisons were kept and questioned under highly abusive conditions, the International Committee of the Red Cross says in a confidential report based on interviews with high-value terror suspects.
The Red Cross said the techniques reported by the 14 prisoners, including sleep deprivation and the use of forced standing and other so-called “stress positions,” were particularly harsh when used together. The prisoners were transferred from CIA custody to a military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September.
The CIA’s detention methods were designed to soften detainees and make them more likely to talk during interrogation. Human rights organizations say the CIA’s extreme conditions of detention and the coercive questioning techniques constitute torture.
The report is the first independent accounting of the detainees’ allegations against the CIA since its detention and interrogation program began in 2002.