The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the CIA over its rendition and torture program following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
The ACLU filed the suit on Tuesday under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demanding the Central Intelligence Agency release two reports about its post-9/11 �œprogram of rendition, secret detention, and torture of detainees”
�œThis illegal program was devised and authorized by officials at the highest levels of government, and five years after it officially ended, the American public still doesn’t have the full story about some of the most devastating rights violations committed in its name,” the ACLU said in a statement.
The organization wants access to a report compiled by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which it described as �œthe most comprehensive review of the CIA’s torture program to date.”
Led by its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Senate panel reviewed more than six million pages of CIA documents and other records on the agency�™s controversial programs over the course of three years.
At the end of 2012, the Senate committee approved its study of �œthe CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program,” which spans over 6,000 pages and includes approximately 35,000 footnotes.
The classified report “uncovers startling details about the CIA detention and interrogation program and raises critical questions about intelligence operations and oversight,” according to Sen. Feinstein.
The creation of clandestine �œblack sites” and the use of so-called enhanced-interrogation techniques were �œterrible mistakes,” the senator has said citing the report.
In addition to detailing the CIA’s illegal practices, the report reveals that the spy agency misled the White House, the Department of Justice, and Congress about the “effectiveness” of its controversial torture techniques including water-boarding, wall-slamming and shackling.
The second report sought by the ACLU is the CIA’s response to the Senate Select Committee, which presents the agency’s �œshameless defense of its torture regime” and challenges its investigative methods and findings.
The ACLU has been challenging the CIA over its torture program for years. In response to ACLU litigation, the US government has been forced to release over 100,000 pages of documents detailing the abuse and torture of detainees by the CIA and the Pentagon.
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Source: Press TV