More revelations concerning CIA destruction of torture tapes. Both parties supported US interrogation program

The tapes in question include hundreds of hours of interrogation of at least two individuals whom the US has accused of acts of terrorism—Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Both were captured in 2002 and both are now being held at Guantánamo Bay. Current CIA head Michael Hayden acknowledged on Thursday that the agency had destroyed the tapes in November 2005.

The identity of the second prisoner as al-Nashiri was revealed over the weekend. Al-Nashiri has been accused of organizing the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. During a hearing earlier this year at Guantánamo, he insisted that he confessed to his role in the bombing only after he had been tortured. (See “Guantánamo prisoner charges confession extracted through torture”)

Leading members of Congress of both the Democratic and Republican parties were informed in 2002 of the existence of the CIA program and the interrogation techniques it used. In 2003, they were informed of the tapes and the intention of the CIA to destroy them. At least as early as November 2006, they were informed that the tapes had, in fact, been destroyed.