Key findings of the US Senate report into the CIA's torture programme

The report - some of which is redacted - found that the CIA's programme was ineffective and more brutal than previously thought. Credit: Reuters

The "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by the CIA as part of their detention and interrogation programme in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks were "far more brutal" than they let on to US policy makers and the public, and were not effective, the US Senate said.

The Senate's Intelligence Committee released a partially redacted, 525-page summary of their five-year review of the methods used by the CIA. Their review, based on 6.3 million pages of CIA reports, had four key points.

  • The CIA's 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were not effective

The Senate committee said the abuses carried out under the guise of "enhanced interrogation techniques" failed to lead to any intelligence of an imminent threat, and in many cases led to false information, that was mistakenly regarded as unique or accurate.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein, in her executive summary release said:

  • The CIA provided extensive inaccurate information about the operation of the programme and its effectiveness to policymakers and the public

The report details how the CIA used inaccurate information to obtain legal approval for the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques, and in doing so misled:

  • The White House

  • Congress

  • The Justice Department

  • The CIA Inspector General

  • The media

  • The American public

Inaccurate information was also passed to members of the senate committee, and their objections were not noted by the CIA in its report to the Justice Department, the US Senate said.

  • The CIA's management of the programme was inadequate and deeply flawed

Failures by the CIA to manage the programme of so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques resulted in serious harm being caused to detainees, and even death, according to the report.

On one of the detention facilities - referred to as COBALT for the purposes of the report - a detainee who was held partially nude and chained to a concrete floor died from suspected hypothermia.

Staff were found to have not been properly trained or vetted - some had documented histories of abuse and violence, and the psychologists used to develop and assess interrogation techniques were poorly qualified.

These psychologists worked as contractors and personally conducted interrogations of some of the detainees using the techniques they developed - as well as being responsible for evaluating whether the detainees psychological state allowed for the continued use of such techniques.

The contractors then went on to form their own company and served as liaisons between the CIA and foreign intelligence agencies.

The CIA paid this company more than $80 million after outsourcing virtually all aspects of the programme to them in 2005, the report found.

  • The CIA programme was far more brutal than the CIA represented to policymakers and the American public

The report found that numerous detainees were subject to the so-called "enhanced interrogation methods" far more regularly than had been reported with many having to endure the abuses "in a near non-stop fashion for days or weeks at a time".

The most aggressive techniques were used "immediately and non-stop" for many of the detainees, and lesser methods of interrogation were not used, as had been reported.

The report found that many detainees were told to believe they would never be able to leave custody alive.

Detainees were kept in complete darkness, and constantly shackled in isolated cells with loud noise or music.

Lack of heat "likely contributed to the death of a detainee", and many were walked around naked and shackled, whilst being slapped and punched.

Rectal feeding was used against at least 5 detainees. Credit: US Senate.

The report found that waterboarding may have been used more than previously suggested, and in different detention centres.