CIA destroyed interrogation tapes.(GOVERNMENT RECORDS)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The U.S. government recently revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) destroyed 92 videotapes in 2005. The tapes are said to have shown the interrogations of two al Qaeda suspects in CIA detention.

The destroyed videotapes reportedly documented some of the harshest interrogation techniques used by the CIA during the two years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including the simulated drowning technique called "waterboarding," according to The New York Times.

The revelation that 92 tapes were destroyed came as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). A criminal investigation into the matter, which began in January 2008, was ongoing as IM went to press.

According to the Times, the order to destroy the tapes was given by Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., who at the time was the head of the CIA's clandestine service. Prosecutors have spent months trying to determine whether anyone else authorized the destruction in an effort to decide who, if anyone, should be indicted for the action.

The tapes were destroyed as Congress and the courts were scrutinizing the agency's detention and interrogation program, the Times said. The ACLU has asked a judge to hold the agency in contempt for destroying the tapes.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said that "waterboarding is torture" and that he would never authorize the technique. According to the Times, Holder is leading a review to determine which interrogation techniques should be authorized for CIA use.

Print Get the Mag Weekly Updates