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Hidden details ... a detainee from Afghanistan is carried on a stretcher before being interrogated by military officials at Camp X-Ray at the USA Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, in 2002. Source: News Limited
THE release of a controversial report into CIA interrogation techniques used after the 9/11 terror attacks has US embassies on alert, as its content could endanger peoples’ lives around the world.
ABC News America reports that US embassies are on alert, and all US facilities are being urged to assess their security procedures and be prepared for any backlash.
The graphic report is expected to be revealed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which contains the first public accounting of the CIA’s use of torture on detainees held in secret facilities in Europe and Asia in the years after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
It is understood that the report contains never before seen detailed descriptions of what CIA operatives did during secret interrogations of 9/11 terror suspects.
The interrogations took place at a series of “black sites†worldwide, where prisoners were sleep deprived, confined in small spaces, humiliated and the simulated drowning process known as waterboarding was used.
REVEALED: How CIA torture techniques actually work
Torture techniques ... concerns surrounds the report and what shackled detainees like this went through, and how the Muslim world will react to hearing it. Picture: AP Source: AP
They were also sexually demeaned as CIA interrogators continued to question them, despite knowing that they had given as much information as they could.
Officials also have high concerns for those in US facilities that are based in the Middle East and North Africa, where military operations are ongoing against ISIS, ISIL and other groups.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers told ABC News America that if this report is released, groups like ISIS will take advantage of it.
Legitimate fears ... House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers questions witnesses during a full committee hearing on the threat posed by Islamic extremists, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Picture: AP Source: AP
“They don’t have to be accurate or right. They just have to believe it’s true and they will take advantage of that,†he said.
“We know that ISIL propaganda operations will — this is the motherload for them.â€
Mr Rogers said that there is credible warning that release of the report will endanger Americans around the world.
“You have foreign leaders saying this report in its current form will incite violence,†he said. “You have liaison partners in the intelligence community saying this will incite violence. This will in fact incite violence and it’s likely to cost someone their life.â€
A portion of the Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, including the secret facility known as Penny Lane (in white). In the early years after 9/11, the CIA turned a handful of prisoners at the secret facility into double agents and released them. Picture: AP Source: AP
He said he thinks the release of the report should at least be delayed.
“I am hoping that there is a change of heart between now and Tuesday to at least suspend the report,†he said.
His fears about the reports come after US Secretary of State John Kerry asked the head of the country’s Senate Intelligence Committee to “consider†the timing of the expected release of a report on the CIA’s harsh interrogation techniques.
Wary of timing ... Secretary of State John Kerry asked Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Senator Dianne Feinstein to “consider†the timing of a report on harsh CIA interrogation techniques. Picture: AP Source: AP
Mr Kerry called Senator Dianne Feinstein to talk about the implications of publicly releasing her committee’s report given the current tense situation in numerous world hot spots.
But an official speaking for Mr Kerry said the administration’s support for its release remained unchanged.
The official was not authorised to discuss the private call and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this year, US President Barack Obama has acknowledged, “We tortured some folksâ€.
But the report goes much further than to simply condemn the brutal methods, which Obama banned in 2009 and were repudiated by the three most recent CIA directors.
It alleges that the harsh interrogations failed to produce unique and lifesaving intelligence, and it asserts that the CIA systematically lied about the covert program to officials at the White House, the Justice Department and congressional oversight committees.