by Cora Currier ProPublica, Sept. 17, 2012
For many
years, Bush administration officials have said that the CIA waterboarded only
three terror suspects. Despite nearly endless revelations and investigations
about the U.S.'s treatment of detainees, there has never been evidence
contradicting those claims. But that changed earlier this month.
Human Rights Watch recently released a report detailing the accounts of 14 Libyan men who claim they were detained and, in some cases, subject to harsh interrogations by the U.S. before being transferred back to Libyan prisons, where they also faced abuse.
Human Rights Watch recently released a report detailing the accounts of 14 Libyan men who claim they were detained and, in some cases, subject to harsh interrogations by the U.S. before being transferred back to Libyan prisons, where they also faced abuse.
One man,
Mohammed Al-Shoreoiya, provided a
detailed account of being waterboarded "many times" while
in U.S. custody in an Afghan prison between 2003 and 2004. Another man
described a similar form of water torture, conducted without a board.
None of the men's accounts could be confirmed, but as the New York Times noted, the detainees did not seek out Human Rights Watch, and their descriptions of their treatment, including waterboarding, are consistent with CIA procedural documents that have been made public.
The CIA first confirmed waterboarding in February 2008, when then-CIA director Michael Hayden told a Senate committee that "only three detainees" had been waterboarded — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaydah, and Abd Al Rahim al-Nashiri. No one, he said, had been subjected to the process since 2003. That claim has been repeated by former President George W. Bush and top officials from his administration. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has also noted that the military did not waterboard.
A spokesman for the CIA told ProPublica that "the Agency has been on the record that there are three substantiated cases in which detainees were subjected to the waterboarding technique under the program."
Here are top Bush administration officials stating, again and again, only three detainees were waterboarded [emphasis added]:
George W. Bush
None of the men's accounts could be confirmed, but as the New York Times noted, the detainees did not seek out Human Rights Watch, and their descriptions of their treatment, including waterboarding, are consistent with CIA procedural documents that have been made public.
The CIA first confirmed waterboarding in February 2008, when then-CIA director Michael Hayden told a Senate committee that "only three detainees" had been waterboarded — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaydah, and Abd Al Rahim al-Nashiri. No one, he said, had been subjected to the process since 2003. That claim has been repeated by former President George W. Bush and top officials from his administration. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has also noted that the military did not waterboard.
A spokesman for the CIA told ProPublica that "the Agency has been on the record that there are three substantiated cases in which detainees were subjected to the waterboarding technique under the program."
Here are top Bush administration officials stating, again and again, only three detainees were waterboarded [emphasis added]:
George W. Bush
Of the
thousands of terrorists we captured in the years after 9/11, about a hundred
were placed into the CIA program. About a third of those were questioned using
enhanced techniques. Three were waterboarded.
– November 2010, in his memoir, Decision Points.
– November 2010, in his memoir, Decision Points.
President
Bush also repeated the line in interviews that fall with the Times of London and Fox News.
Dick Cheney, former vice president
Dick Cheney, former vice president
It is a
fact that only detainees of the highest intelligence value were ever subjected
to enhanced interrogation. You've heard endlessly about waterboarding. It
happened to three terrorists.
-- May 21, 2009: Dick Cheney, in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute.
-- May 21, 2009: Dick Cheney, in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute.
In 2009,
Cheney made the same claim in another speech and in interviews with the Washington Times, CNN and CBS. In 2011, he mentioned it again in a speech at AEI.
Donald Rumsfeld, former defense secretary
Donald Rumsfeld, former defense secretary
[Michael
Hayden] looked at all the evidence and concluded that a major fraction of the
intelligence in our country on al Qaeda came from individuals, the three, only
three people who were waterboarded... no one was waterboarded at Guantanamo by
the U.S. military. In fact, no one was waterboarded at Guantanamo, period. Three
people were waterboarded by the CIA, away from Guantanamo and then later
brought to Guantanamo.
-- May 3, 2011, in an interview with Fox News.
-- May 3, 2011, in an interview with Fox News.
Rumsfeld
repeated the line that year in interviews with CNN, CBS, the Associated Press, Charlie
Rose and in a speech in February 2012.
Michael Hayden, former CIA director
Michael Hayden, former CIA director
Let me
make it very clear and to state so officially in front of this committee that waterboarding
has been used on only three detainees. It was used on Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, it was used on Abu Zubaydah, and it was used on Nashiri. The CIA has
not used waterboarding for almost five years. We used it against these three
high-value detainees because of the circumstances of the time.
–Feb. 5, 2008, in testimony to a Senate committee.
–Feb. 5, 2008, in testimony to a Senate committee.
Hayden
also reiterated the three-person figures in a memo circulated that month to CIA employees and on Meet the Press that March. He repeated it
again in an interview with Newsweek in 2009.
John Yoo, former Justice Department official
John Yoo, former Justice Department official
Waterboarding
we think is torture, but it happened to three people. The scale of magnitude is
different....We've done it three times."
--June 1, 2008, in an interview with Esquire Magazine.
--June 1, 2008, in an interview with Esquire Magazine.
Yoo also
said three people had been waterboarded in a June 2008 congressional hearing.
Karl Rove, senior adviser to Bush
Karl Rove, senior adviser to Bush
[Coercive
techniques] were used against some thirty hard-core terrorist detainees who had
successfully resisted other forms of interrogation. Only three were
waterboarded.
–March 2010, in his memoir, Courage and Consequences.
–March 2010, in his memoir, Courage and Consequences.
Michael
Mukasey, former attorney general
The fact
is that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was subjected to enhanced interrogation
techniques, including waterboarding — he was one of three people who were
waterboarded — did disclose the name — the nickname actually, which was the
name that this courier actually used — in the course of the questioning that
took place after enhanced interrogation techniques.
--May 17, 2011, in remarks at the American Enterprise Institute.
--May 17, 2011, in remarks at the American Enterprise Institute.
Jose
Rodriguez Jr., former director of the National Clandestine Service at the CIA
In fact, only
three detainees: Mohammed, Zubaydah and one other were ever waterboarded,
the last one more than nine years ago.
-- May 10, 2012: Jose Rodriguez Jr., in an op-ed on CNN.com
-- May 10, 2012: Jose Rodriguez Jr., in an op-ed on CNN.com
Rodriguez
also mentioned the figure in interviews this spring with Fox News and the New Yorker.
Bill Harlow, who co-authored Rodriguez' book on interrogations, said that Rodriguez stands by his statement. "These procedures were not done without extensive documentation and authorization, as part of an officially approved program, and all the documentation there shows three individuals," Harlow said.
The other officials we've cited did not respond to requests for comment.
President Obama came into office proclaiming a ban on torture, stating that waterboarding was unequivocally a form of torture, and making the infamous "torture memos" public. But the administration has said no one would be prosecuted for waterboarding or other interrogation methods previously sanctioned by the government, and announced last month it would close the last two investigations into CIA abuse.
A Justice Department spokesman would not comment on whether the government ever investigated the Libyan cases. Laura Pitter, the author of the Human Rights Watch report, said that none of the men she interviewed said they had been contacted by U.S. investigators about their detention.
The CIA spokesman said that he could not comment on specific allegations, but that "the Department of Justice has exhaustively reviewed the treatment of more than 100 detainees in the post-9/11 period — including allegations involving unauthorized interrogation techniques — and it declined prosecution in every case."
http://www.propublica.org/article/the-bush-administrations-oft-repeated-and-now-challenged-waterboarding-clai
Bill Harlow, who co-authored Rodriguez' book on interrogations, said that Rodriguez stands by his statement. "These procedures were not done without extensive documentation and authorization, as part of an officially approved program, and all the documentation there shows three individuals," Harlow said.
The other officials we've cited did not respond to requests for comment.
President Obama came into office proclaiming a ban on torture, stating that waterboarding was unequivocally a form of torture, and making the infamous "torture memos" public. But the administration has said no one would be prosecuted for waterboarding or other interrogation methods previously sanctioned by the government, and announced last month it would close the last two investigations into CIA abuse.
A Justice Department spokesman would not comment on whether the government ever investigated the Libyan cases. Laura Pitter, the author of the Human Rights Watch report, said that none of the men she interviewed said they had been contacted by U.S. investigators about their detention.
The CIA spokesman said that he could not comment on specific allegations, but that "the Department of Justice has exhaustively reviewed the treatment of more than 100 detainees in the post-9/11 period — including allegations involving unauthorized interrogation techniques — and it declined prosecution in every case."
http://www.propublica.org/article/the-bush-administrations-oft-repeated-and-now-challenged-waterboarding-clai
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