'High-Value' Gitmo Detainee Alleges Torture

'High value' detainees include 911 'mastermind'

(NEWSER) - US officials have granted 14 "high-value" al-Qaeda suspects, transferred to Guantanamo Bay after years in secret CIA prisons, access to lawyers to represent them at future military trials. The suspects include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 911 attacks, and others once close to Osama bin Laden, reports the Washington Post. More»

(NEWSER) - After being waterboarded 183 times and deprived of sleep for a week, self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Kalid Sheikh Mohammed transformed from an avowed enemy of the US into a sort of CIA guest lecturer, the Washington Post reports. Two anonymous sources, looking to build the case that harsh interrogation worked, say that in 2005 and 2006, KSM gave what CIA officers called “terrorism tutorials,” expounding on al-Qaeda’s structure and even reprimanding his “class” for poor note-taking. More»

Turns out the body never gets used to simulated drowning

(NEWSER) - Like many other forms of torture, waterboarding doesn’t get any easier with repeated exposure. After multiple sessions of the simulated drowning technique, accused al-Qaeda plotters Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah would at best have been able to slightly modify their response, explains Brian Palmer in Slate. The experience still would have been continually painful and stressful. More»

That's twice CIA's max, challenges efficacy

(NEWSER) - A Department of Justice memo that detailed interrogation techniques used on prisoners at Guantanamo Bay notes that in August 2002, suspected al-Qaeda official Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 82 times, while the following March, 9/11 suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times. But as the blog Emptywheel points out, there's no way to get to those numbers within the CIA's guidelines. More»

Torture claims will be central to defense

(NEWSER) - A suspected al-Qaeda terrorist held at Guantanamo Bay for six years has been charged with masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and injured 50 others. The treatment of Saudi prisoner Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri in custody, which included waterboarding by interrogators, will be a key element of his defense, reports the Washington Post. More»