Torture Photos Should Be Secret—for Detainees' Sake

(NEWSER) - A report by the ethics office of the Justice Department recommends reopening a dozen cases of alleged prisoner abuse, a move that would expose CIA employees to prosecution if it's determined they tortured terrorism suspects, reports the New York Times. Legal experts predict Attorney General Eric Holder will launch a new criminal investigation later this week—despite President Obama's desire to ignore Bush-era abuses. More»

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon denies a report that classified photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib depict rape and sexual abuse, Reuters reports. Britain’s Daily Telegraph “completely mischaracterized the images,” a spokesman said today. “None of the photos in question depict the images that are described.” The article quotes a former US general as saying the photos show “torture, abuse, rape and every indecency.” More»

Guards raped male and female detainees, used wire for sex torture, according to probe

(NEWSER) - Unreleased photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib depict apparent rape and sexual abuse, according to a retired American officer who conducted an inquiry at the infamous Iraqi prison. Two photos depict the rape of a male and a female prisoner, while others show sexual assaults using a truncheon, wire, and a phosphorescent tube, Major General Antonio Taguba tells the Daily Telegraph. "These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency," he said. More»

Tunes represented something detainees didn't like: Hetfield

(NEWSER) - Metallica frontman James Hetfield is rather proud his band's music was played at top volume to break down the resistance of Guantanamo detainees under interrogation. "It’s strong, it’s music that’s powerful,” he told an interviewer from a German TV network. “It represents something that they don’t like—maybe freedom, aggression—I don’t know. Freedom of speech." More»

(AP) - In late 2007, a year after the Bush administration abandoned its harshest interrogation methods, CIA operatives used severe sleep deprivation tactics against a terror detainee twice, keeping him awake for 5 and then 6 straight days, with permission from government lawyers to go over the 4-day limit. Interrogators kept the unidentified detainee awake by forcing him to stand with his arms chained above heart level, jerking on the chains if he nodded out, according to an internal CIA report released this week. More»