The CIA torture report that the Senate Intelligence Committee released on Tuesday has revealed extreme torture and brutality of terror suspects the extent of which was never revealed to the the Department of Justice or even to the then Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The committee had examined for five years the treatment of 119 detainees interrogated by the CIA in the months and years after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
It found that at least 26 of them had been detained because of mistaken identities and improper intelligence, as disclosed in the 500 page report, which is a summary of a 6,000 page study.
The study found that the interrogation methods involved arbitrary violence well above acceptance levels, and were often counterproductive to the purpose of the Bush administration's 'Rendition, Detention and Interrogation' program.
It also highlights forms of abuse and torture employed by the CIA on detainees, sometimes in a combination of brutalities.
While the practice of waterboarding has been known in the public for a long time and has now been banned, according to the report, the practice led to several cases of 'near drownings', medical personnel had reported.
Detainees were also subjected to painful procedures such as 'rectal rehydrating' which never had sanction.
Often, CIA members themselves expressed concern over the torture tactics, with the report revealing that some CIA employees were emotionally wrought after being witness to the interrogation of Al Qaeda member Abu Zubaida in Thailand.
"Several on the team were profoundly affected to the point of tears," the central intelligence agency had said.
Read the full summary report here.
