2007 RED CROSS REPORT:THE RED Cross February 2007 report on 14 people held for 16 months by the US Central Intelligence Agency during the Bush presidency is not intended for publication, in line with how the ICRC works.
The report, marked “Strictly Confidential”, details a wide range of human rights abuses and torture. “Throughout the entire period during which they were held in the CIA detention program . . . the detainees were kept in continuous solitary confinement and incommunicado detention,” it says. “They had no knowledge of where they were being held, no contact with persons other than their interrogators or guards . . .
“None had any contact with legal representation. The 14 had no access to news from the outside world, apart from in the later stages of their detention when some of them occasionally received printouts of sports news from the internet and one reported receiving newspapers.
“None of the 14 had any contact with their families, either in written form or through family visits or telephone calls.”
The report itemised the sort of torture inflicted:
“Suffocation by water poured over a cloth placed over the nose and mouth, alleged by three of the 14.
“Prolonged stress standing position, naked, held with arms extended and chained above the head, as alleged by 10 of the 14, for periods of two or three days continuously, and for up to two or three months intermittently, during which period toilet access was sometimes denied resulting in allegations from four detainees that they had to defecate and urinate over themselves.
“Beatings by use of a collar held around the detainees’ neck and used to forcefully bang the head and body against the wall, alleged by six of the 14.
“Beating and kicking, including slapping, punching kicking to the body and face, alleged by nine of the 14.
“Confinement in a box to severely restrict movement alleged in the case of one detainee.
“Prolonged nudity alleged by 11 of the 14 during detention, interrogation and ill-treatment; this enforced nudity lasted for periods ranging from several weeks to several months.
“Sleep deprivation was alleged by 11 of the 14 through days of interrogation, through use of forced stress positions (standing or sitting), cold water and use of repetitive loud noise or music. One detainee was kept sitting on a chair for prolonged periods of time.
“Exposure to cold temperature was alleged by most of the 14, especially via cold cells and interrogation rooms, and for seven of them, by the use of cold water poured over the body or, as alleged by three of the detainees, held around the body by means of a plastic sheet to create an immersion bath with just the head out of the water.
“Prolonged shackling of hands and/or feet was alleged by many of the 14.
“Threats of ill-treatment to the detainee and/or his family, alleged by nine of the 14.
“Forced shaving of the head and beard, alleged by two of the 14.
“Deprivation/restricted provision of solid food from three days to one month after arrest, alleged by eight of the 14.”
The report details selected case histories:
ABU ZUBAYDAH, a Palestinian arrested in Pakistan, told the Red Cross: “I was put on what looked like a hospital bed, and strapped down very tightly with belts. A black cloth was then placed over my face and the interrogators used a mineral water bottle to pour water on the cloth so that I could not breathe. After a few minutes the cloth was removed and the bed was rotated into an upright position. The pressure of the straps on my wounds caused severe pain. I vomited. The bed was then again lowered to a horizontal position and the same torture carried out with the black cloth over my face and water poured on from a bottle... I lost control of my urine. Since then I still lose control of my urine when under stress.”
KHALED SHAIK MOHAMMED, a Pakistani arrested in Pakistan, said: “I would be strapped to a special bed, which can be rotated into a vertical position. A cloth would be placed over my face. Water was then poured on to the cloth by one of the guards so that I could not breathe. This obviously could only be done for one or two minutes at a time. The cloth was then removed and the bed was put into a vertical position. The whole process was then repeated during about one hour.”
WALID BIN ATTASH, a Yemeni arrested in Pakistan, said: “... on a daily basis during the first two weeks a collar was looped around my neck and then used to slam me against the walls of the interrogation room. It was also placed around my neck when being taken out of my cell for interrogation and was used to lead me along the corridor. It was also used to slam me against the walls of the corridor during such movements.”
The full report may be read online, www.irishtimes.com/indepth