US waterboarded Libyan Islamists: report

7 Sep 2012, 6:25 am   -   Source: AAP

"Not only did the US deliver Gaddafi his enemies on a silver platter, but it seems the CIA tortured many of them first,' said Laura Pitter, the author of the report.

Human Rights Watch says the US waterboarded Libyan Islamists opposed to Muammar Gaddafi and handed them over to his regime for further torture.

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The United States waterboarded Libyan Islamists opposed to Muammar Gaddafi and handed them over to his regime for further torture during the Bush administration, a human rights group says.

A new report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch said a former detainee claimed to have been waterboarded while another described a form of water torture, indicating wider use of the method than is officially claimed.

"Not only did the US deliver Gaddafi his enemies on a silver platter, but it seems the CIA tortured many of them first," said Laura Pitter, the author of the report.

"The scope of Bush administration abuse appears far broader than previously acknowledged and underscores the importance of opening up a full-scale inquiry into what happened."

The Central Intelligence Agency declined to confirm or deny that the Libyan detainees were tortured but said the Justice Department had examined how dozens of terror suspects were treated by the spy service and chose not to prosecute any US interrogators.

"Although we cannot comment on these specific allegations, the Department of Justice has exhaustively reviewed the treatment of more than 100 detainees in the post-9/11 period - including allegations involving unauthorised interrogation techniques - and it declined prosecution in every case," said CIA spokesman John Tomczyk.

The Human Rights Watch report said a number of members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) - a movement with alleged links to al-Qaeda that joined the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew Gaddafi - were rounded up in several countries in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and held without charge.

At least five described suffering "serious abuses" at two US-run detention facilities in Afghanistan believed to have been operated by the CIA, including "waterboarding and other water torture", it said.

Other abuses included being chained to walls for weeks or months, being beaten and slammed into walls and being kept awake for long periods with loud Western music.

The LIFG fought with NATO-backed rebels in last year's uprising and many members now hold key positions in the emerging government and armed forces.

Human Rights Watch said one of the detainees, Khalid al-Sharif, is now head of the Libyan National Guard.

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