Did CIA Destroy Tapes Showing Waterboarding and Involvement of Psychologists in Torture?

The Justice Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have launched a joint probe into the CIA’s destruction of at least two tapes documenting prisoner interrogations at a secret CIA prison. C.I.A. Director Michael Hayden said the tapes were destroyed because they posed a “serious security risk.” Hayden says that if they were to become public they would have exposed C.I.A. officials and their families to "retaliation from Al Qaeda and its sympathizers.” But critics have accused the CIA of deliberately destroying evidence that could have been used to hold agents accountable for the torture of prisoners.

One of the tapes is believed to have shown CIA agents waterboarding the Al Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah. Defense lawyers for Guantanamo prisoners say the destruction of the tapes could open new challenges in cases based largely on information Zubaydad gave to interrogators.

Meanwhile, new questions are being raised about the role of senior lawmakers in backing the alleged torture. The Washington Post reports the CIA has regularly briefed senior members of the House and Senate intelligence committees on its secret prisons and the interrogation techniques used there since 2002. The lawmakers include four Democrats: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Pelosi, Congressmember Jane Harman, and Senators Bob Graham and John Rockefeller.

CIA officials say the controversial practice of waterboarding was among the techniques on display. But except for one known instance, no lawmaker is said to have voiced objection through the course of some thirty private briefings. Democrats and some Republicans have raised increasing criticism of waterboarding—but only after its use became publicly known.

We speak with two guests: Scott Horton is here in the firehouse studio. He is a Columbia law professor and contributor to Harper”s magazine, where he writes the blog, “No Comment.” And joining me from Washington, DC is Mark Benjamin. He is the National Correspondent for Salon.com. His latest piece is called “For the CIA”s eyes only.”

Mark Benjamin, National Correspondent for Salon.com.

Scott Horton, New York attorney specializing in international law and human rights. He is a contributor to Harper’s Magazine where he writes the blog No Comment. He served as chair of the International Law Committee at the New York Bar Association.

Related Links

• For the CIA's eyes only
• No Comment
• DN! Blog: 'The Destroyed CIA Torture Tapes & Psychologists'

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