By IANS
Islamabad : As a row over the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) torture tapes destroyed by it heats up, a Pakistani detainee has claimed that he was subjected to “state-sanctioned torture”.
Majid Khan, who lived in Baltimore, Maryland, claimed through his lawyers that he was subjected to an aggressive CIA detention and interrogation programme that he said was notable for “elaborate planning and ruthless … torture”, the Dawn newspaper reported Monday.
Khan and other high-value detainees are now being held in a previously undisclosed area of the Guantanamo prison in Cuba he called Camp 7.
The New York Times said Sunday that they included 14 men, some suspected of being former Al Qaeda officials, who President Bush acknowledged were held under a secret CIA programme.
Asked about Khan’s assertions, Mark Mansfield, a CIA spokesman, said: “The US does not conduct or condone torture.”
CIA director Mike Hayden revealed Friday that in 2005 it destroyed video tapes of officers subjecting two Al Qaeda suspects to harsh interrogation techniques.
Responding to a request for a criminal probe by the Senate Intelligence Committee, the CIA and the US Justice Department said they would conduct a joint investigation into the destruction. The White House has promised assistance.