CIA says shuttering detention “black sites”


WASHINGTON, (Reuters) –
The CIA will decommission  the infamous “black sites” where terrorism suspects were  interrogated with harsh techniques that included waterboarding,  agency director Leon Panetta said yesterday.

Panetta said in a letter to agency employees that he had  informed Congress of the CIA’s detention policies following an  order by President Barack Obama in January banning harsh  interrogations and ordering that the secret detention sites be  closed.

He said the agency had also discontinued using contract  employees to conduct interrogations, a concern of influential  congressional members who called the practice an invitation to  abuse.

“CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites  and has proposed a plan to decommission the remaining sites,”  Panetta wrote. “I have directed our Agency personnel to take  charge of the decommissioning process and have further directed  that the contracts for site security be promptly terminated.”

A copy of the letter was obtained by Reuters.

The now-empty “black sites” in unidentified countries were  used to detain suspects who were captured in the “war on  terrorism” launched by former President George W. Bush after  the Sept. 11 attacks.

The three suspects that the CIA has acknowledged were  subjected to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning widely  condemned as a form of torture, were subjected to the technique  at such black sites.

The suspects were accused Sept. 11 plotter Khalid Sheikh  Mohammed, and al Qaeda suspects Abu Zubayhda and Abd al-Rahim  al-Nishiri.

Panetta said the CIA would continue to question suspects as  necessary. But he said it would use “a dialog style of  questioning that is fully consistent with the interrogation  approaches authorized and listed in the Army Field Manual,”  which bans harsh techniques.

“CIA officers do not tolerate, and will continue to
promptly report, any inappropriate behavior or allegations of  abuse. That holds true whether a suspect is in the custody of  an American partner or a foreign liaison service,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, “no CIA contractors will conduct  interrogations.”

Human rights advocates have said some of Obama’s policies  fall short of guaranteeing humane treatment for terrorism  suspects seized overseas. They have also urged the  administration to more aggressively investigate and publicize  abuses under the Bush administration