CSRT Censorship
The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit demanding the release of un-redacted transcripts of Guantánamo Bay prisoners describing abuse and torture suffered in CIA custody. The lawsuit follows a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking transcripts from Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) that determine if prisoners held by the Defense Department at Guantánamo qualify as “enemy combatants.”
June 13, 2016, in response to a new ACLU lawsuit, the Department of Defense released substantial new sections of the transcripts that had previously been redacted. In previously released versions of the documents, the government had still kept hidden much of the prisoners’ own descriptions of their torture.
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad transcript
September 18, 2009, the ACLU urged a federal court to review transcripts in which 14 prisoners now held at Guantánamo Bay describe abuse and torture suffered in CIA custody in order to determine whether the government can continue to withhold the records from the public.
On June 15, 2009, the CIA released still-highly redacted documents in which Guantánamo Bay prisoners describe abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody.
(Learn more >>) In previously released versions of the documents, the CIA had removed virtually all references to the abuse of prisoners in their custody; the new versions are still heavily blacked out but include some new information:
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On March 13, 2008, the CIA released highly redacted documents in which Guantánamo Bay prisoners describe abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody.
PRESIDENT: Please describe the methods that were used.
TRANSLATOR: (translation of above).
DETAINEE (through translator): CENSORED What else do I want to say? CENSORED Many things happened. There were doing so many things. What else did they did?
CENSORED They do so many things. So so many things. What else did they did?
CENSORED After that another method of torture began.CENSORED They used to ask me·questions and the investigator after that used to laugh. And, I used to answer the answer that I knew. And, if I didn’t reply what I heard, he used to CENSORED So many things happened. I don’t in summary, that’s basically what happened.
PRESIDENT: In your previous statement, you were saying specific treatments. Can you describe a little bit more about what those treatments were?
DETAINEE: CENSORED
PRESIDENT: I understand.
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NEWS & COMMENTARY
- CIA Should Stop Suppressing Guantánamo Detainee Statements (9/18/2009)
- Newly Released Detainee Statements More Evidence Of CIA Torture Program (6/15/2009)
- ACLU Sues To Uncover Records Detailing Torture And Abuse Of Guantánamo Prisoners (3/13/2008)
- An Insider Criticizes the CSRTs (6/23/2007)
- CSRTs On Parade (5/16/2007)
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