Human rights activists are calling for the prosecution of officials involved in the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s use of extreme interrogation methods on suspected terrorists.

Ben Emmerson, the United Nations special envoy on human rights and counter-terrorism, said a U.S. Senate report on the CIA’s actions after the September 11, 2001 attacks “reinforces the need for criminal accountability.”

Kenneth Roth, the executive director of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said that torture “will remain a ‘policy option’ for future presidents” unless officials are prosecuted

Senate Intelligence Committee report

The Senate Intelligence Committee released a summary of a much longer report Tuesday, saying the CIA mistreated prisoners during questioning. It accuses the CIA of misleading Congress and the American people about the effectiveness of those methods, which included confinement in small places, sleep deprivation, and simulated drowning.

California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that “under any common meaning of the term, CIA detainees were tortured.”  She called the CIA’s actions a stain on American values.

President Barack Obama told the Spanish language television network Univision that the U.S. engaged in brutal activities. He called them terrible mistakes that should not be repeated.

Release questioned

Some in Washington questioned whether it was wise to release the report at this time, with the United States leading the fight against Islamic State and Americans being held hostage. They fear a violent reaction by extremists.

Obama said there is never a perfect time to release such a report, but he said when the country does something wrong, it is important to admit it.

President Obama banned the use of the so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” when he took office in 2009. His predecessor, George W. Bush, authorized the practice after the 2001 attacks, looking to prevent another one.

But the report says President Bush did not know the details of what the CIA was doing.

Brutal techniques

The report detailed numerous instances of CIA abuses against suspects that were “far more brutal” than had previously been disclosed. They included “ice baths,” as well as “rectal rehydration” – a form of feeding through the rectum – and threats that their relatives would be harmed. One suspected extremist froze to death while in captivity.

The current CIA Director John Brennan acknowledges that the agency “did not always live up to the high standards” it set for itself.  But he disputed the Senate’s conclusion that the harsh interrogations were ineffective, saying they actually helped stop plots, capture terrorists, and save lives.

CIA prison in Poland

Former Polish President Kwasniewski says Poland let the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency run a secret prison on its territory, but he says Polish officials did not authorize harsh treatment or torture of the suspected terrorists at the site.

In an interview Wednesday with a Warsaw radio station (TOK FM), Kwasniewski said he urged then U.S. president George W. Bush to end all U.S. intelligence efforts at the prison more than 10 years ago.

Kwasniewski said the efforts were halted at some point.

This is the first time the former Polish president has publicly acknowledged the existence of the prison, after denying it for years.

It is believed the CIA ran the facility in Poland in 2002 and 2003.

Kwasniewski made his remarks a day after a summary of the U.S. Senate report on CIA torture was made public.

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