CIA Report Reveals Interrogator Threatened to Kill Detainee's Children

Posted by Nate Carlile, Think Progress at 3:00 PM on August 24, 2009.

A 2004 CIA Inspector General report reveals that interrogators threatened to kill the children and sexually assault the mother of a key terror suspect. The report, which examined the CIA's treatment of terror detainees, has now been partly declassified as a result of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union:

The document, released Monday by the Justice Department, says one interrogator said a colleague had told Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that if any other attacks happened in the United States, "We're going to kill your children."

Another interrogator allegedly tried to convince a different terror suspect detainee that his mother would be sexually assaulted in front of him -- though the interrogator in question denied making such a threat.

Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint a prosecutor to decide whether anti-torture laws were broken in prisoner abuse cases involving CIA interrogators and contractors. Holder will reportedly name John Durham to lead the inquiry. Durham is a career Justice Department prosecutor from Connecticut.

Tagged as: cia, torture, department of justice, khalid sheikh mohammed, eric holder, leon panetta, john durham, cia inspector general rep