The December 26 Washington Post article also discussed the rendition, or transfer, of suspected members of Al Qaeda to third countries that not only use the "stress and duress" techniques described above, but other, more brutal methods of interrogation. According to the article, U.S. officials defended renditions by saying interrogators with a greater cultural, religious and language affinity would be more successful in obtaining information. However, other comments from anonymous officials suggested that detainees were deliberately moved to countries known for their use of torture because the officers of the third countries face fewer constraints on their interrogations. One unnamed official was quoted as saying, "We don't kick the [expletive] out of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the [expletive] out of them." The various methods of torture used in the third countries, like the "stress and duress" techniques, are also described and condemned in the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights. Listed below are the descriptions of the torture techniques used in reported countries of rendition, as reported by the State Department.
Country |
Methods Used |
Egypt |
Suspension from a ceiling or doorframe; beatings with fists, whips, metal rods, and other objects; administration of electric shocks; being doused with cold water; sexual assault or threat with sexual assault |
Jordan |
Beatings on the soles of the feet; prolonged suspension in contorted positions; beatings |
Morocco |
Severe beatings |
Pakistan |
Beatings; burning with cigarettes; sexual assault; administration of electric shocks; being hung upside down; forced spreading of the legs with bar fetters |
Saudi Arabia |
Beatings; whippings; suspension from bards by handcuffs; drugging |
Syria |
Administration of electric shocks; pulling out fingernails; forcing objects into the rectum; beatings; bending detainees into the frame of a wheel and whipping exposed body parts. |
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