U.S. sues Air Force psychologists over CIA interrogation tactics

Baku. 14 October. REPORT.AZ/ The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday sued two former Air Force psychologists who designed a CIA program that used harsh interrogation techniques to elicit intelligence from suspected terrorists, saying the pair endorsed and taught torture tactics under the guise of science, Report informs referring to BBC.

The lawsuit comes 10 months after the release of a damning Senate report that said the interrogation techniques had inflicted pain on al Qaeda prisoners far beyond the legal limits and did not yield lifesaving intelligence.

The suit accuses the psychologists, James E.Mitchell and John "Bruce" Jessen, of developing an interrogation program that relied on beatings, sleep deprivation, starvation, waterboarding and other methods that caused physical and psychological suffering on prisoners in CIA custody.

A lawyer who has represented the pair did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Tuesday.

The suit was filed in federal court in Washington state on behalf of three former CIA prisoners. One, Gul Rahman, was interrogated in a dungeon-like Afghanistan prison called the Salt Pit, subjected to isolation, darkness and extreme cold water, and was later found dead of hypothermia. The other two men, Suleiman Abdullah Salim and Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, are now free.