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CIA sexual assault and rights abuses against detainees

Sunday, 10 April 2016 6:43 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 10 April 2016 6:42 AM ]

Director of Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan takes questions from reporters during a press conference at CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, December 11, 2014. ©AFP

According to the international human rights law, photographing prisoners in an undignified way is forbidden. Yet the CIA did exactly this before sending detainees to be tortured in other countries.

“Is the naked photography a form of sexual assault? Yes. It’s a form of sexual humiliation,” said Dr. Vincent Iacopino, the medical director of Physicians for Human Rights, adding, “It’s cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment at a minimum and may constitute torture.

Other human rights experts have also described the practice as a potential war crime.

In some photos, detainees are blindfolded and bound with visible bruises. In others, CIA officials or contractors appear to be standing alongside the naked captives.

However, a report, published by The Guardian newspaper, claimed the CIA took such photos as insurance against legal and political fallout from the brutal treatment of detainees by partner intelligence agencies.

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