We’re guessing most Americans are all for saving the lives of fellow Americans, but at what cost? This question has always been a tricky one to answer. We all know that the CIA has in the past employed some brutal techniques, water boarding for instance, for interrogation purposes. These methods of torture were taken to a whole new level after 9/11 and are still being used to get information from terrorists who are in US custody in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
While putting people through physical and psychological pressure or coercion to extract confessions may not seem like much of a “big deal” to some, it does matter, mainly because these extreme methods of torture used in the advanced interrogation program are mostly carried out on men who haven’t been convicted yet.
Well, it seems like the wheels of justice in America turns very slowly, but they do turn. According to reports, three survivors of the horrible CIA torture program have come out and sued two psychologists who were behind the torture program’s design. The men in question are Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, two former US Air Force trainers who played the key role in putting together some of the most hair-raising torture techniques ever used in modern warfare.
While the U.S. still refers to these practices as the “advanced interrogation program”, the rest of the world pretty much has settled on calling it torture. According to the accusers, the CIA used brutal interrogation techniques such as sleep deprivation, physical abuse, the hugely discussed water boarding, and the anal penetration- a technique that is painful to even read.
The terrible torture techniques that first began in CIA’s undocumented prisons, also known as “black sites”, made their way to US prisons in Afghanistan (Bagram Airbase), Iraq (Abu Ghraib), and the infamous Gitmo.
In a fantastic string of events, the case was brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who filed the suit against Jessen and Mitchell in the federal court on behalf of the three former CIA prisoners: Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, the family of Gul Rahman, and Suleiman Abdullah Salim.
Gul Rahman, an Afghanistani, literally froze to death during one of these enhanced torture techniques while Soud, a Libyan man, and Salim, a Tanzanian man, were both held in US custody for around five years before being released with visible psychological trauma. Both the accusers, along with the family of the deceased Gul Rahman, are seeking around $75,000 as compensation for their terrible ordeal.
In the lawsuit, the ACLU has described CIA’s torture program as a “war crime” and a “joint criminal enterprise”. Both Jessen and Mitchell have also been accused of making millions of dollars with their advanced interrogation program. According to official records, the CIA had reportedly paid both the psychologists $81 million dollars to act as contractors and run CIA’s torture program.
According to ACLU attorneys who are representing the three men, the main focus of this case is all about making sure those responsible are held accountable for their crimes. Steven Watt, one of the ACLU attorneys, also said that any sort of impunity for torture could send a dangerous message to those responsible that no one will be held accountable for their actions and could also be used to further fuel the campaign of the enemies of the United States.
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