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Gitmo Prisoners: We Lied to CIA to Stop Torture

Khalid Mohammed 'made up stories' on bin Laden's whereabouts after torture

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 16, 2009 1:44 AM CDT

(Newser) – Guantanamo prisoners fabricated information to give CIA interrogators after being physically and mentally abused, they told a 2007 military tribunal in transcripts released yesterday under the Freedom of Information act. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and one of the prisoners who was repeatedly waterboarded, said he made up stories about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts after being tortured, CNN reports.

"Where is he? I don't know," Mohammed said of the interrogation session. "Then, he torture me. Then I said, 'Yes, he is in this area.' " Other detainees described abuse which led to permanent disabilities. A lawyer for the ACLU, which sued to make the documents public, said the information had been "suppressed solely to avoid embarrassment and growing demands for accountability." The organization is seeking the release of other similar documents.

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Accused Al Qaeda facilitator Abu Zubaydah told a military tribunal that his injuries went untreated for months after his capture, according to documents released yesterday. (AP Photo/U.S. Central Command)

A closed cell door is seen behind a fence within the Camp Delta military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley )

Khalid Sheik Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan in 2003. (AP Photo)

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It underscores the unreliability of statements obtained by torture. - Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project

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Gitmo Prisoners: We Lied to CIA to Stop Torture