A-HRC-13-42

A/HRC/13/42
page 48
regime. This regime was clearly designed to undermine human dignity and to create a
sense of futility by inducing, in many cases, severe physical and mental pain and suffering,
with the aim of obtaining compliance and extracting information, resulting in exhaustion,
depersonalization and dehumanization. The allegations of ill-treatment of the detainees
indicate that, in many cases, the ill-treatment to which they were subjected while held in
the CIA program, either singly, or in combination, constituted torture. In addition, many
other elements of the ill-treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel
inhuman or degrading treatment.” 178
107. Despite the acknowledgement in September 2006 by President Bush of the existence of
secret CIA detention facilities, the United States Government and the Governments of the States
that hosted these facilities have generally refused to disclose their location or even existence. The
specifics of the secret sites have, for the most part, been revealed through off-the-record
disclosures.
108. In November 2005, for example, the Washington Post referred to “current and former
intelligence officers and two other US Government officials” as sources for the contention that
there had been a secret CIA black site or safe house in Thailand, “which included underground
interrogation cells”. 179 One month later, ABC news reported on the basis of testimonies from
“current and former CIA officers” that Abu Zubaydah had been:
Whisked by the CIA to Thailand where he was housed in a small, disused warehouse on an
active airbase. There, his cell was kept under 24-hour closed circuit TV surveillance and
his life-threatening wounds were tended to by a CIA doctor specially sent from Langley
headquarters to assure Abu Zubaydah was given proper care, sources said. Once healthy,
he was slapped, grabbed, made to stand long hours in a cold cell, and finally handcuffed
and strapped feet up to a water board until after 0.31 seconds he begged for mercy and
began to cooperate. 180
The details of Abu Zubaydah’s treatment have been confirmed by his initial FBI interrogator,
who has not confirmed or denied that the location where Abu Zubaydah was held was in
Thailand. 181 The Washington Post also reported that the officials had stated that Ramzi
179
Dana Priest, “CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons”, Washington Post, 2 November
2005. Available from www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110101644.html.
180
Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, “Sources tell ABC news top Al-Qaida figures held in
secret CIA Prisons”, 5 December 2005. Available from
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1375123.
181
“Former FBI agent: enhanced interrogation techniques ‘ineffective, harmful”. ABC news, 13
April 2009. Available from http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7577631&page=1.