The Senate Intelligence Committee released a declassified summary of its report on the CIA detention and interrogation programme, AFP reports
The report details the use of harsh interrogation methods by CIA agents against terrorism suspects captured after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. US President Barack Obama banned such practices, including water-boarding, on taking office in 2009.
It alleges that the interrogation methods amounted to torture and that they did not produce important intelligence findings. The CIA misled government officials and the US public about the success of the programme, it said.
The panel voted to declassify the report in April, but it has spent months being reviewed by the White House.Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the committee, has described the findings as "shocking."
She told CNN ahead of the report's release that there "really is no good time" to release the findings."The greatness of this country is that we can examine mistakes and remedy them," she said.
The White House supports the release, which has been opposed by the intelligence community and some lawmakers who warn that the details will be used as a pretext for violence against US interests.
Senators Marco Rubio and Jim Risch called the report "one-sided" and alleged the panel had not interviewed any CIA agents.
"We are concerned that this release could endanger the lives of Americans overseas, jeopardize US relations with foreign partners, potentially incite violence, create political problems for our allies, and be used as a recruitment tool for our enemies," they said. "Simply put, this release is reckless and irresponsible."
The US government has taken steps to bolster security at facilities abroad ahead of the report's release, Earnest said, refusing to detail what security precautions have been taken.
But The director of the CIA insisted Tuesday that US agents' use of brutal interrogation techniques against Al-Qaeda suspects helped prevent attacks, in the wake of a critical Senate report.
John Brennan admitted that mistakes had been made, but said the Central Intelligence Agency's own review found that harsh interrogations "did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists and save lives."
US President Barack Obama said Tuesday the CIA's torture of Al-Qaeda suspects, as documented in a Senate report, had been "contrary to our values."
"That is why I unequivocally banned torture when I took office, because one of our most effective tools in fighting terrorism and keeping Americans safe is staying true to our ideals," Obama said.
As Guardian reports “Though unofficial, that very detailed probe concluded that 54 countries around the world assisted the CIA’s programme – 25 of them in Europe.”
Today’s report, actually a 480-page summary of a 6,000-page investigation from the Senate Intelligence Committee, is expected to include graphic details about sexual threats, waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques meted out to captured militants since the 9/11 terror attacks.