Abu Zubaydah

Biography and early activities

According to his younger brother Hesham, they had eight siblings. Hesham remembers his older brother "as a happy-go-lucky guy, and something of a womanizer". Born in Saudi Arabia, Zubaydah is reported to have studied computer science in Mysore, India, prior to his travel to Afghanistan/Pakistan at the age of 20 in 1991. In 1991 he joined the mujahideen and fought against Afghan Communist Government forces during the Afghan Civil War, perhaps serving under Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi. In 1992, Zubaydah was injured in an Afghan mortar attack, which left shrapnel in his head and caused severe memory loss, as well as the loss of the ability to speak for over one year.

Zubaydah eventually became involved in the training camp known as the Khalden training camp, where he oversaw the flow of recruits and obtained passports and paperwork for men transferring out of Khalden. He may also have worked as an instructor there. Although originally described as an al-Qaeda training camp, this alleged connection, which has been used as justification for holding Zubaydah and others as enemy combatants, has come under scrutiny from multiple sources, and the camp may have shut its doors in 2001 in response to an ideological division with al-Qaeda.

By 1999, the United States government was attempting to surveil Zubaydah. By March 2000, United States officials were reporting that Zubaydah was a "senior bin Laden official", the "former head of Egypt-based Islamic Jihad", a "trusted aide" to bin Laden with "growing power", who had "played a key role in the East Africa embassy attacks". Zubaydah was convicted in absentia in Jordan and sentenced to death by a Jordanian court for his role in plots to bomb U.S. and Israeli targets there. A senior Middle East security official said Zubaydah had directed the Jordanian cell and was part of "bin Laden's inner circle".

In August 2001, the classified FBI report, "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US", said that the foiled millennium bomber, Ahmed Ressam, had confessed that Zubaydah had encouraged him to blow up the Los Angeles airport and facilitated his mission. The report said that Zubaydah was also planning his own attack on the U.S. However, when Ressam was tried in December 2001, federal prosecutors did not try to connect him to Zubaydah or refer to any of this supposed evidence in its case. After the trial, Ressam recanted his confession, saying he had been coerced into giving it.

According to a psychological evaluation conducted upon his capture, Zubaydah allegedly served as Osama bin Laden's senior lieutenant and counter-intelligence officer (i.e. third or fourth highest-ranking member of al Qaeda), managed a network of training camps, was involved in every major terrorist operation carried out by al Qaeda (including the planning of 9/11), and was engaged in planning future terrorist attacks against U.S. interests. These statements were widely echoed by members of the George W. Bush administration and other US officials. Zubaydah's perceived "value" as a detainee would later be used by George W. Bush to justify the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and Zubaydah's detention in secret CIA prisons around the world. However, Zubaydah's connection to al Qaeda is now often said to have beenaccording to Rebecca Gordon writing about "The al Qaeda Leader Who Wasn't"a fictitious charge. Others have said instead that it is merely overstated, and in response to his habeas corpus petition, the U.S. Government stated in 2009 that it did not contend Zubaydah had any involvement with the 9/11 attacks, or that he had even been a member of al Qaeda, simply because they did not have to: "In simple terms, the issue in this habeas corpus action is Petitioner's conduct", rather than membership or inclination: "Petitioner's personal philosophy is not relevant except to the extent that it is reflected in his actions".{{cite court | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109072744/http://www.truth-out.org/files/memorandum.pdf | url-status=dead

Capture

On March 28, 2002, CIA and FBI agents, in conjunction with Pakistani intelligence, raided several safe houses in Pakistan searching for Zubaydah. Zubaydah was apprehended from one of the targeted safe houses in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The Pakistani intelligence service had paid a small amount for a tip on his whereabouts. The United States paid far more to Pakistan for its assistance; a CIA source later said: "We paid $10 million for Zubaydah."

During the raid, Zubaydah was shot in the thigh, the testicle, and the stomach with rounds from a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Not recognized at first, he was piled into a pickup truck along with other prisoners by the Pakistani forces until a senior CIA officer identified him. He was taken by the Pakistanis to a Pakistani hospital nearby and treated for his wounds. The attending doctor told the CIA lead officer of the group which apprehended Zubaydah that he had never before seen a patient survive such severe wounds. The CIA flew in a doctor from Johns Hopkins University to ensure Zubaydah would survive during transit out of Pakistan.

His pocket litter supposedly contained two bank cards, which showed that he had access to Saudi and Kuwaiti bank accounts; most al-Qaeda members used the preferred, untraceable hawala banking. According to James Risen: "It is not clear whether an investigation of the cards simply fell through the cracks, or whether they were ignored because no one wanted to know the answers about connections between al Qaeda and important figures in the Middle East—particularly in Saudi Arabia." One of Risen's sources chalks up the failure to investigate the cards to incompetence rather than foul play: "The cards were sent back to Washington and were never fully exploited. I think nobody ever looked at them because of incompetence."

When Americans investigated the cards, Risen wrote that they worked with a Muslim financier with a questionable past, and with connections to the Afghan Taliban, al Qaeda, and Saudi intelligence. ... Saudi intelligence officials had seized all of the records related to the card from the Saudi financial institution in question; the records then disappeared. There was no longer any way to trace the money that had gone into the account.

A search of the safehouse turned up Zubaydah's 10,000-page diaries, in which he recorded his thoughts as a young boy, older man, and at his current age. What appears to be multiple separate identities is how Zubaydah was piecing his memories together after his 1992 shrapnel head wound. As part of his therapy to regain his memories, he began recording a diary that detailed his life, emotions, and what people were telling him. He split information into categories, such as what he knew about himself and what people told him, and listed them under different names to distinguish one set from the other. This was later interpreted by some analysts reviewing the diary as symptoms of dissociative identity disorder, which some others disputed and said to be incorrect.

Zubaydah was handed to the CIA. Reports later alleged that he was transferred to secret CIA-operated prisons, known as black sites, in Pakistan, Thailand, Afghanistan, Poland, Northern Africa, and Diego Garcia. Historically, renditions of prisoners to countries which commit torture have been illegal. A memo written by John Yoo and signed by Jay Bybee of the Office of the Legal Counsel, DOJ, days before Zubaydah's capture, provided a legal opinion providing for CIA renditions of detainees to places such as Thailand. In March 2009, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee launched a year-long study on how the CIA operated the secret prisons, or black sites, around the world.

Top U.S. officials approved torture techniques

In the spring of 2002, immediately following the capture of Zubaydah, top Bush administration officials, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and US Attorney General John Ashcroft discussed at length whether or not the CIA could legally use harsh techniques against him. Condoleezza Rice specifically mentioned the SERE program during the meeting, saying, "I recall being told that U.S. military personnel were subjected to training to certain physical and psychological interrogation techniques".

In addition, in 2002 and 2003, the administration briefed several Democratic Congressional leaders on the proposed "enhanced interrogation techniques". These congressional leaders included Nancy Pelosi, the future Speaker of the House, and Representative Jane Harman. Congressional officials have stated that the attitude in the briefings ranged from "quiet acquiescence, if not downright support". Pelosi states she was "misled" and was told that the techniques were being considered, and were "legal". By 2003, after Harman had received a more detailed briefing and told the techniques were now in use, Harman and Pelosi sent a letter to the CIA to protest the use of the techniques. https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2009/04/pelosi-briefed-on-waterboarding-in-02-updated-017771

The documents show that top U.S. officials were intimately involved in the discussion and approval of the harsher interrogation techniques used on Zubaydah. Condoleezza Rice ultimately told the CIA the harsher interrogation tactics were acceptable, and Dick Cheney stated, "I signed off on it; so did others." During the discussions, US Attorney General John Ashcroft is reported as saying, "Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly."

Torture drawings

In December 2019, The New York Times published an article in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting which was based upon drawings made by Zubaydah, showing how he was tortured in "vivid and disturbing ways". The article includes some of the drawings as well as a link to a 61-page report titled "How America Tortures", and asserts that Zubaydah was never a member of Al Qaeda. In the article Zubaydah gives gruesome details of numerous types of torture including being locked up inside a small box called "the dog box" for "countless hours", which caused muscle contractions. "The very strong pain", he said, "made me scream unconsciously". According to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, over a single 20 day period, Zubaydah spent over 11 days locked in a "coffin size" box, and 29 hours in a box measuring 21 inches wide, 2 feet deep, and 2 feet high (21 x). On May 9, 2023, Zubaydah's former attorney, Mark Denbeaux of Seton Hall Law School, published a detailed report annotating the drawings.

Interrogation of Zubaydah

Main article: Interrogation of Abu Zubaydah

Zubaydah was interrogated by two separate interrogation teams: the first from the FBI and one from the CIA. Ali Soufan, one of the FBI interrogators, later testified in 2009 on these issues to the Senate Committee that was investigating detainee treatment. Soufan, who witnessed part of the CIA interrogation of Zubaydah, described his treatment under the CIA as torture. The International Committee of the Red Cross and others later reached the same conclusion. While in CIA custody, Zubaydah's previously damaged left eye was surgically removed.

Because of the urgency felt about the interrogation of Zubaydah, the CIA had consulted with the president about how to proceed. The General Counsel of the CIA asked for a legal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice about what was permissible during interrogation.

August 2002 memo

Main article: Torture Memos

In early July 2002, the Associate General Counsel CTC/Legal Group started drafting a memo to the Attorney General requesting the approval of "aggressive" interrogation methods, which otherwise would be prohibited under the provisions of Section 2340-2340B, Title 18, United States Code, on Abu Zubaydah. This memo, drafted by Office of Legal Counsel, Jay Bybee and his assistant John Yoo, is also referred to as the first Torture Memo. Addressed to CIA acting General Counsel John A. Rizzo at his request, the purpose of the memo was to describe and authorize specific "enhanced interrogation techniques" to be used on Zubaydah. On July 26, 2002, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo informed the CIA that Attorney General John Ashcroft had approved waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah.

Journalists including Jane Mayer, Joby Warrick and Peter Finn, and Alex Koppelman have reported the CIA was already using these harsh tactics before the memo authorizing their use was written, and that it was used to provide after-the-fact legal support for harsh interrogation techniques. A Department of Justice 2009 report regarding prisoner abuses reportedly stated the memos were prepared one month after Zubaydah had already been subjected to the specific techniques authorized in an August 1, 2002, memo. John Kiriakou stated in July 2009 that Zubaydah was waterboarded in the early summer of 2002, months before the August 1, 2002, memo was written.

The memo described ten techniques which the interrogators wanted to use: "(1) attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial slap (insult slap), (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions, (8) sleep deprivation, (9) insects placed in a confinement box, and (10) the waterboard." Many of the techniques were, until then, generally considered illegal. Many other techniques developed by the CIA were held to constitute inhumane and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As reported later, many of these interrogation techniques were previously considered illegal under U.S. and international law and treaties at the time of Zubaydah's capture. For instance, the United States had prosecuted Japanese military officials after World War II and American soldiers after the Vietnam War for waterboarding. Since 1930, the United States had defined sleep deprivation as an illegal form of torture. Many other techniques developed by the CIA constitute inhuman and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture, and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ensuing interrogation

At a CIA black site in Thailand, Zubaydah was subjected to various forms of increasingly harsh interrogation techniques, including temperature extremes, music played at debilitating volumes, and sexual humiliation. Zubaydah was also subjected to beatings, isolation, waterboarding, long-time standing, continuous cramped confinement, and sleep deprivation.

Former CIA analyst and case officer John Kiriakou asserted that while Zubaydah was in CIA custody, a box of cockroaches was poured on him inside of a coffin he was confined to for two weeks, because of an irrational fear Zubaydah has of bugs.

During Zubaydah's interrogation, Bush learned he was on painkillers for his wounds and was proving resistant. He said to the CIA director George Tenet, "Who authorized putting him on pain medication?" It was later reported that Zubaydah was denied painkillers during his interrogation.

Waterboarding

Main article: Waterboarding

Zubaydah was one of three or more high-value detainees to be waterboarded. The Bush administration in 2007 said that Zubaydah had been waterboarded once. John Kiriakou, a CIA officer who had seen the cables regarding Zubaydah's interrogation, publicly said in 2009 that Zubaydah was waterboarded once for 35 seconds before he started talking.

Intelligence sources claimed as early as 2008 that Zubaydah had been waterboarded no less than ten times in the span of one week. Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times within the month of August 2002, the month the CIA was authorized to use this enhanced interrogation techniques on him. In January 2010, Kiriakou, in a memoir, said, "Now we know that Zubaydah was waterboarded eighty-three times in a single month, raising questions about how much useful information he actually supplied."

2003 transfer to Guantanamo

In August 2010, the Associated Press reported that the CIA, having concluded its agents had gotten most of the information from Zubaydah, in September 2003 transferred him and three other high-value detainees to Guantanamo. They were held at what was informally known as "Strawberry Fields", a secret camp within the complex built especially for former CIA detainees. Concerned that a pending Supreme Court decision, Rasul v. Bush (2004), might go against the Bush administration and require providing the prisoners with counsel and having to reveal data about them, on March 27, 2004, the CIA took the four men back into custody and transported them out of Guantanamo to one of their secret sites. At the time, the moves were all kept secret.

International Committee of the Red Cross report

In February 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded a report on the treatment of "14 high-value detainees", who had been held by the CIA and, after September 2006, by the military at Guantanamo. The ICRC described the twelve enhanced interrogation techniques covered in the OLC memos to the CIA: suffocation by water (which is described as "torture" by numerous US officials), prolonged stress standing position, beatings by use of a collar, beating and kicking, confinement in a box, prolonged nudity, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold temperature, prolonged shackling, threats of ill-treatment, forced shaving, and deprivation/restricted provision of solid food. Zubaydah was the only detainee of the 14 interviewed who had been subjected to all 12 of these interrogation techniques. He was also the only one of the 14 detainees to be put into close confinement.

May 30, 2005, memo

The final memo mentioned Zubaydah several times. It claimed that due to the enhanced interrogation techniques, Zubaydah "provided significant information on two operatives, [including] José Padilla[,] who planned to build and detonate a 'dirty bomb' in the Washington DC area." This claim is strongly disputed by Ali Soufan, the FBI interrogator who first interrogated Zubaydah following his capture, by traditional means. He said the most valuable information was gained before torture was used. Other intelligence officers have also disputed that claim. Soufan, when asked in 2009 by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse during a Congressional hearing if the memo was incorrect, testified that it was. The memo noted that not all of the waterboarding sessions were necessary for Zubaydah, since the on-scene interrogation team determined he had stopped producing actionable intelligence. The memo reads:

John McLaughlin, former acting CIA director, stated in 2006, "I totally disagree with the view that the capture of Zubaydah was unimportant. Zubaydah was woven through all of the intelligence prior to 9/11 that signaled a major attack was coming, and his capture yielded a great deal of important information."

In his 2007 memoir, former CIA director George Tenet writes:

Intelligence obtained from Zubaydah and its after effects

Zubaydah's capture was touted as the biggest of the war on terror until that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The director of the FBI stated Zubaydah's capture would help deter future attacks.

In a speech in 2006, Bush claimed that Zubaydah revealed useful intelligence when enhanced interrogation was used, including identification of two important suspects and information that allegedly helped foil a terrorist attack on American soil. These claims directly conflict with the reports of the FBI agents who first interrogated Zubaydah. He gave them the names before torture was used, and the third piece of information came from other sources who had been receiving crucial pieces of information from him without the use of harsher techniques, as well as other government officials.

Iraq War (2003)

The Bush administration relied on some of Zubaydah's claims in justifying the invasion of Iraq. U.S. officials stated that the allegations that Iraq and al-Qaeda were linked in the training of people on chemical weapons came from Zubaydah. The officials noted there was no independent verification of his claims.

The U.S. government included statements made by Zubaydah in regards to al Qaeda's ability to obtain a dirty bomb to show a link between Iraq and al Qaeda. According to a Senate Intelligence Committee report of 2004, Zubaydah said that "he had heard that an important al Qaeda associate, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and others had good relationships with Iraqi intelligence." However, the year before, in June 2003, Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were reported as saying there was no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

In the Senate Armed Services Committee 2008 report on the abuses of detainees, the Bush administration was described as having applied pressure to interrogators to find a link between Iraq and al Qaeda prior to the Iraq War. Major Paul Burney, a psychiatrist with the United States Army, said to the committee, "while we were [at Guantanamo] a large part of the time we were focused on trying to establish a link between al Qaeda and Iraq and we were not being successful." He said that higher-ups were "frustrated" and applied "more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results."

Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, the former chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell said:

Concerns

In 2004, media coverage of Abu Zubaydah began listing him as a "disappeared" prisoner, stating he had no access to the International Red Cross. In February 2005, the CIA was reported as uncomfortable keeping Zubaydah in indefinite custody. Less than 18 months later, Zubaydah and the thirteen other high-value detainees who had been in secret CIA custody were transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

After his transfer, the CIA denied access to Zubaydah. In 2008, the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Justice, complained that it had been prevented from seeing him, although it was conducting a study of the US treatment of its detainees.

Zubaydah's mental health

Some people are concerned about Zubaydah's mental stability and how that has affected information he has given to interrogators. Ron Suskind noted in his book, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (2006), that Zubaydah was mentally ill or disabled due to a severe head injury. He described Zubaydah as keeping a diary "in the voice of three people: Hani 1, Hani 2, and Hani 3"—a boy, a young man and a middle-aged alter ego. Zubaydah's diaries spanned ten years and recorded in numbing detail "what he ate, or wore, or trifling things [people] said". Dan Coleman, then the FBI's top al-Qaeda analyst, told a senior bureau official, "This guy is insane, certifiable, split personality." According to Suskind, this judgment was "echoed at the top of CIA and was briefed to the President and Vice President." Coleman stated Zubaydah was a "safehouse keeper" with mental problems, who "claimed to know more about al-Qaeda and its inner workings than he really did."

Joseph Margulies, Zubaydah's co-counsel, wrote in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times in 2009:

Legal status

President Bush referred to Zubaydah in a speech to Congress September 2006 requesting a bill to authorize military commissions, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) that held the tribunals as formulated by the executive branch were unconstitutional. Congress rapidly passed legislation that was signed by the president.

Less than one month after Zubaydah's capture, Justice Department officials said Zubaydah was "a near-ideal candidate for a tribunal trial". Several months later in 2002, US officials said there was "no rush" to try Zubaydah via military commission.

At his Combatant Status Review Tribunal in 2007, Zubaydah said he was told that the CIA realized he was not significant.

Abu Zubaydah's lawyers, including Joseph Margulies and George Brent Mickum IV, filed a lawsuit in July 2008 challenging his detention at Guantanamo Bay detention camps after the Boumediene v. Bush ruling. The judge overseeing the case, Richard W. Roberts, failed to rule on any motions related to the case, even the preliminary ones. This led Zubaydah's lawyers to file a motion asking Judge Roberts to recuse himself for nonfeasance in January 2015. On March 16, 2016, Roberts retired early from the federal bench, citing unspecified health issues.

The U.S. government has not officially charged Zubaydah with any crimes. The Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture reported that Zubaydah's CIA interrogators wanted him to "remain in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life."

Joint Review Task Force

When he assumed Presidential office in January 2009, Barack Obama made a number of promises about the future of Guantanamo. He promised the use of torture would cease at the camp and to institute a new review system composed of officials from six departments, where the OARDEC reviews were conducted entirely by the Department of Defense. When it reported back, a year later, the Joint Review Task Force classified some individuals as too dangerous to be transferred from Guantanamo, even though there was no evidence to justify laying charges against them. On April 9, 2013, that document was made public after a Freedom of Information Act request. Zubaydah was one of the 71 individuals deemed too innocent to charge but too dangerous to release. Although Obama promised that those deemed too innocent to charge but too dangerous to release would start to receive reviews from a Periodic Review Board, less than a quarter of men have received a review. Zubaydah was denied approval for transfer on September 22, 2016.

European Court of Human Rights decision

On 24 July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Poland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it cooperated with US allowing the CIA to hold and torture Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri on its territory in 2002–2003. The court ordered the Polish government to pay each of the men €100,000 in damages. It also awarded Zubaydah €30,000 to cover his costs.

On 31 May 2018, the ECHR ruled that Romania and Lithuania also violated the rights of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2003–2005 and in 2005–2006 respectively, and Lithuania and Romania were ordered to pay €100,000 in damages each to Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri.

In 2026 he entered into a confidential out of court settlement for substantial damages from the British Government resulting from his civil action for damages arising from the UK state having been allegedly implicit in his torture. |access-date=13 January 2026

U.S. Supreme Court decision

In connection with the European Court of Human Rights proceedings, Zubaydah filed suit in the U.S. seeking disclosure of information related to the matter. The U.S. government intervened, seeking to assert a state secrets privilege. The U.S. district court decided in favor of the government and dismissed the case. On appeal, the dismissal was reversed on a ruling that the state secrets privilege did not apply to information that was already publicly known. The Supreme Court reversed the appeal ruling in United States v. Zubaydah, explaining that the state secrets privilege applies to the existence (or nonexistence) of a secret CIA facility and that revelation by government would confirm or deny that state secret.

Notes

References

References

1. (11 November 2008). "JTF–GTMO Detainee Assessment".
2. (31 March 2016). "Guatanamo Detainee Profile".
3. Rosenberg, Carol. (2023-05-01). "U.N. Body Demands Release of Guantánamo Prisoner Who Was Tortured by the C.I.A.". The New York Times.
4. (February 11, 2008). "Profile: Key US terror suspects". BBC News.
5. Shane, Scott. (April 19, 2009). "Waterboarding Used 266 Times on 2 Suspects". The New York Times.
6. Matthews, Dylan. (December 9, 2014). "16 absolutely outrageous abuses detailed in the CIA torture report".
7. (February 5, 2008). "CIA Chief: We Waterboarded".
8. (Mar 15, 2010). "Abu Zubaydah's Torture Diary". Andy Worthington.
9. (March 30, 2009). "Headlines for March 30, 2009". Democracy Now!.
10. Fink, Sheri. (May 28, 2009). "Do CIA Cables Show Doctors Monitoring Torture?". ProPublica.
11. Jason Leopold. (May 29, 2012). "Exclusive: From Hopeful Immigrant to FBI Informant – the Inside Story of the Other Abu Zubaidah". Truthout.
12. Raman, B.. (February 14, 2010). "Pune's Past Jihadi Connections". Eurasia Review.
13. (March 29, 2009). "Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots". The Washington Post.
14. Colin Freeze. (September 12, 2009). "Jailed Arab details ties to tortured Canadians". Globe and Mail.
15. (2007). "Abu Zubaydah Unclassified Verbatim Combatant Status Review Tribunal Transcript". [[United States Department of Defense.
16. (December 18, 2007). "FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect: Agencies Also Disagree On Interrogation Methods". The Washington Post.
17. Suskind, Ron. (2007). "The one percent doctrine: deep inside America's pursuit of its enemies since 9/11". Simon & Schuster.
18. Cabot, Tyler. (August 18, 2011). "The Prisoners of Guantánamo".
19. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/Set_1_0001-0097.pdf Khalid Sulaymanjaydh Al Hubayshi Unclassified Verbatim Combatant Status Review Tribunal Transcript], pp. 65–73, Department of Defense {{webarchive. link. (June 29, 2011)
20. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/Set_38_2608-2628.pdf Noor Uthamn Muhammed Unclassified Verbatim Combatant Status Review Tribunal] {{webarchive. link. (June 29, 2011 , p. 15, Department of Defense)
21. [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/fullreport.pdf ''9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States''] {{webarchive. link. (April 23, 2016 , July 22, 2006)
22. Lia, Brynjar. (2008). "Architect of global Jihad: the life of al-Qaida strategist Abu Musʾab al-Suri". Columbia University Press.
23. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-4648752_ITM "Pak leadership under Sharif offered to try to capture Osama"], The Press Trust of India Ltd. Through ''Asia Pulse'', March 28, 2004 {{registration required
24. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025120601/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-513940.html David A. Vise and Lorraine Adams, "Bin Laden Weakened, Officials Say"], ''The Washington Post''. March 11, 2000
25. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/six-muslim-militants-sentenced-to-death-for-plotting-to-attack-tourists-in-jordan-699684.html "Six Muslim militants sentenced to death for plotting to attack tourists in Jordan"] {{Webarchive. link. (August 19, 2014 , ''[[The Independent]]'', September 19, 2000)
26. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025120612/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-26114220.html Jamal Halaby, "Arabs of Terror Linked to Bin Laden", AP News Online]
27. [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20000305/4008236/trainees-in-terror "Trainees in Terror"], ''The Seattle Times'', Sunday, March 5, 2000
28. (April 10, 2004). "Transcript: Bin Laden determined to Strike in US". CNN.
29. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025120619/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80592999.html Elaine Ganley, "Terror Plot Took Typical Path"], AP Online, December 19, 2001
30. Leopold, Jason. (April 1, 2010). "US Recants Zubaydah's Terror Charges".
31. George W. Bush's Remarks at the Virginia Military Institute, April 17, 2002
32. George W. Bush. (June 6, 2002). "Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation". White House.
33. [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20030111/notebook11/more-attacks-have-been-prevented-officials-say "Terrorism Notebook. More attacks have been prevented, officials say"]. ''The Seattle Times'', January 11, 2003
34. (September 6, 2006). "President Bush's Speech on Terrorism". The New York Times.
35. (September 6, 2006). "Bush Concedes CIA Held Suspects in Secret Prisons". [[NPR]].
36. Shane, Scott. (April 17, 2009). "Divisions Arose on Rough Tactics for Qaeda Figure". The New York Times.
37. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-33608853_ITM "Transcript of Representative John Conyers Jr. Hearing on C.I.A.'s Destruction of Tapes"], Political/Congressional Transcript Wire, December 20, 2007 {{registration required
38. (June 16, 2009). "CIA Mistaken on 'High-Value' Detainee, Document Shows". The Washington Post.
39. Worthington, Andy. (2007). "The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison". Pluto Press.
40. McGirk, Tim. (April 8, 2002). "Anatomy of a Raid".
41. Burns, John F.. (April 14, 2002). "A Nation Challenged: The Fugitives; In Pakistan's Interior, A Troubling Victory In Hunt for Al Qaeda". [[The New York Times]].
42. (April 3, 2002). "Anti-terror raids yield bonanza for U.S. intelligence". [[The Seattle Times]].
43. Kumar, Arun. (May 28, 2008). "US imposes sanctions on four Lashkar-e-Toiba leaders". [[Hindustan Times]].
44. Mayer, Jane. (July 2008). "The Dark Side". Doubleday.
45. Shane, Scott. (June 22, 2008). "Inside a 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation". New York Times.
46. Risen, James. ''State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration'', 2006
47. Soufan, Ali. "The Black Banners".
48. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/12/18/BL2007121800862.html Dan Froomkin, "Bush's Exhibit A for Torture"], ''The Washington Post'', December 18, 2007
49. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110101644.html Dana Priest, "CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons"], ''The Washington Post'', November 2, 2005
50. [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/19/europe/EU-GEN-Britain-Diego-Garcia.php "Lawmakers to examine claims Indian Ocean island used in secret prison network"], ''International Herald Tribune'', October 19, 2007
51. Dick Marty, [http://assembly.coe.int/CommitteeDocs/2007/Emarty_20070608_NoEmbargo.pdf "Secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states: Second report"], Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, June 7, 2007
52. [https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1375123 Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, "EXCLUSIVE: Sources Tell ABC News Top Al Qaeda Figures Held in Secret CIA Prisons"], ABC News, December 5, 2005
53. [http://www.globalpulse.net/archives/security/cia_shuttled_pr_000087.php "CIA Shuffled Prisoners Out of Poland"] {{webarchive. link. (May 4, 2007 , ''Global Pulse'', December 5, 2005)
54. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/13/usa.terrorism Jason Burke, "Secret World of U.S. Jails"], ''The Observer'', June 13, 2004
55. [http://www.reprieve.org.uk/documents/FinalReprieveFASCExecutiveSummary.pdf "Enforced Disappearance, Illegal Interstate Transfer, and Other Human Rights Abuses Involving the UK Overseas Territories: Executive Summary"] {{webarchive. link. (July 6, 2008 , Reprieve)
56. [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/memorandumpresidentpower03132002.pdf Jay Bybee, "Rendition Memo"], Department of Justice, March 13, 2002
57. link. (January 23, 2009, ''Bloomberg Report'', March 5, 2009)
58. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/washington/25detain.html Mark Mazzetti, "Bush Aides Linked to Talks on Interrogations"], ''New York Times'', September 24, 2008
59. [https://abc30.com/archive/6076727/ "Bush aware of advisers' interrogation talks"], ABC News, April 11, 2008
60. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801664.html Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen, "Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002"], ''The Washington Post'', December 9, 2007
61. [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/22/timeline-released-senate-shows-condoleezza-rice-okd-waterboarding/ "As Bush Adviser, Rice Gave OK to Waterboard"] {{webarchive. link. (April 26, 2009 , [[Fox News]], April 22, 2009)
62. "Senate Report: Rice, Cheney OK'd CIA use of waterboarding", CNN, April 23, 2009
63. {{usurped
64. (2019). "How America Tortures".
65. Rosenberg, Carol. (4 December 2019). "CIA torture drawings". The New York Times.
66. "Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program, Foreword by Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein, Findings and Conclusions, Executive Summary.". United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
67. Pilkington, Ed. (2023-05-11). "'The forever prisoner': Abu Zubaydah's drawings expose the US's depraved torture policy". The Guardian.
68. (2023-05-09). "American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantanamo". [[Social Science Research Network]].
69. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html Ali Soufan, "My Tortured Decision"], ''New York Times'', April 22, 2009
70. Michael Isikoff [http://www.newsweek.com/id/195089 "We Could Have Done This the Right Way"], ''Newsweek'', April 25, 2009
71. link. (July 15, 2009 , Congressional Testimony, May 13, 2009)
72. [http://www.nybooks.com/icrc-report.pdf "Report on the Treatment of Fourteen 'High Value Detainees' in CIA Custody"], International Committee of the Red Cross, February 2007
73. (June 5, 2022). "The Al Qaeda Capture That Went Horribly Wrong John Kiriakou".
74. (8 July 2002). "Eyes Only – Draft". CIA.
75. (July 24, 2008). "Previously Secret Torture Memo Released". [[CNN]].
76. [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/central_intelligence_agency/cia_interrogations/index.html "C.I.A. Interrogations"]. ''New York Times'', April 28, 2009
77. (26 July 2002). "Eyes Only – Where We Stand Re: Abu Zubaydah". CIA.
78. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042104055_2.html?sid=ST2009042101921 Joby Warrick and Peter Finn, "Harsh Tactics Readied Before Their Approval"], ''The Washington Post'', April 22, 2009
79. Koppelman, Alex. (July 17, 2008). "Ashcroft suggests CIA sought legal approval after torture began". [[Salon.com]].
80. (June 27, 2004). "The Reach Of War: The Interrogations; Aides Say Memo Backed Coercion Already In Use". The New York Times.
81. [https://archive.today/20130415182026/http://www.pubrecord.org/torture/701-doj-report-blasts-yoo-for-not-citing-court-case-in-torture-memo.html Jason Leopold "DOJ Report Says Yoo's Torture Memo Failed To Cite Supreme Court Case"], ''The Public Record'', February 22, 2009
82. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8148202.stm Hilary Andersson, "Did America break its torture law?"], BBC ''Panorama'', July 13, 2009
83. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8144625.stm "US 'waterboarding' row rekindled"], BBC, July 13, 2009
84. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html Walter Pincus, "Waterboarding Historically Controversial"], ''The Washington Post'', October 5, 2006
85. Mayer, Jane. (2009). "The dark side: the inside story of how the War on Terror turned into a war on American ideals". Anchor Books.
86. "Gina Haspel, "I think I am a nice person" Donald "I beat China all the time" Trump's CIA director pick, oversaw the torture of dozens of people". Vox.
87. Raymond Bonner. (2018-03-15). "Correction: Trump's Pick to Head CIA Did Not Oversee Waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah".
88. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/washington/10detain.html?pagewanted=1 David Johnston, "At a Secret Interrogation, Dispute Flared Over Tactics"]. ''New York Times'', September 10, 2006
89. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/washington/11detain.html?scp=1&sq=zubaydah&st=nyt Scott Shane, "Book Cites Secret Red Cross Report of CIA Torture of Qaeda Captives"], ''New York Times'', July 11, 2008
90. [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mayer Jane Meyer, "The Black Sites: A rare look inside CIA's secret interrogation program"], ''The New Yorker'', August 13, 2007
91. [http://harpers.org/archive/2008/07/hbc-90003234 Scott Horton, "Six Questions for Jane Meyer, Author of 'The Dark Side'"], ''Harper's Magazine'', July 14, 2008
92. Fitzgerald, Dani. "New Castle native who served prison time after blowing whistle on 'enhanced interrogation techniques' shares story with Slippery Rock crowd".
93. Paul Koring [https://archive.today/20240525075204/https://www.webcitation.org/5yFpbGc1P?url=http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act%3Ffuid=MTI1MTIyMTk= "New book slams Bush's black ops"], ''Globe and Mail'', January 4, 2006
94. [https://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/us1004/index.htm "United States' 'Disappeared' CIA Long-term 'Ghost Detainees{{'"], Human Rights Watch, October 2004
95. [https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/us0405/6.htm "Impunity for the Architects of Illegal Policy"], Human Rights Watch, 2005
96. Serrin Turner and Stephen J. Schullhoffer [http://brennan.3cdn.net/6a0e5de414927df95e_lbm6iy66c.pdf ''The Secrecy Problem in Terrorism Trials''] {{webarchive. link. (July 24, 2009 , Brennan Center for Justice 2005)
97. Eun Young Choi, "Veritas, Not Vengeance: An Examination of the Evidentiary Rules for Military Commissions in the War Against Terrorism", 42 ''Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review'', 2007
98. Charles H. Brower II, "The Lives of Animals, the Lives of Prisoners, and the Revelations of Abu Ghraib"], 37 ''Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law'', 2004
99. A. John Radsan, "Symposium on Reexamining the Law of War: The Collision Between Common Article Three and The Central Intelligence Agency"] 56 ''Catholic University Law Review'', 2007
100. Tommy Harnden [https://web.archive.org/web/20030316190205/http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=%2Farticles%2F2003%2F03%2F05%2F1046826435361.html "Gloves off, the screws go on 9/11 suspect"], ''The Age''. March 6, 2003
101. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/world/threats-responses-interrogations-questioning-terror-suspects-dark-surreal-world.html Raymond Bonner, Don Van Natta Jr, and Amy Waldman, "Threats and Responses: Interrogations; Questioning Terror Suspects In a Dark and Surreal World"], ''New York Times'', March 9, 2003
102. Brian Ross, [https://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/brianross_kiriakou_transcript1_blotter071210.pdf "CIA–Zubaydah: Interview with John Kiriakou: Transcript"], ABC News, December 10, 2007
103. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608164719/http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2007/cyb20071212.asp#1 "Lauer Stirs Scandal Over How Water Boarding Saved Lives"], Media Research Center, December 12, 2007
104. [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/11/agent.tapes/#cnnSTCText "Ex-CIA Agent: Waterboarding 'Saved Lives'"] CNNPolitics.com, December 11, 2007
105. [https://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0420/p99s01-duts.html Liam Stack, "Is waterboarding effective? CIA did it 266 times on two prisoners"], ''Christian Science Monitor'', April 20, 2009
106. link. (May 2, 2009 , ABC News, December 10, 2007)
107. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/business/media/28abc.html?ref=business Brian Stetler, "How '07 Interview Tilted Torture Debate"], ''The New York Times'', April 27, 2009
108. [http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/aclu/olc_05302005_bradbury.pdf] {{Webarchive. link. (June 11, 2009[[Steven G. Bradbury). Steven Bradbury]], "Memorandum for John A. Rizzo, Senior Deputy General Counsel, Central Intelligence Agency Re: Application of United States Obligations Under Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques that May Be Used in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees", Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, May 30, 2005
109. Michael Scherer and Bobby Ghosh [https://web.archive.org/web/20090420220922/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1892708,00.html "How Waterboarding Got Out of Control"]. ''[[Time (magazine). Time]]'', April 20, 2009.
110. Shane, Scott. (April 19, 2009). "Waterboarding Used 266 Times on 2 Suspects". New York Times.
111. [http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-torture27-2009apr27,0,6092738.story "Taking on Torture"] ''Los Angeles Times'', April 27, 2009
112. Jeff Stein. (January 26, 2010). "CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding; A study in "enhanced reporting techniques". Foreign Policy.
113. Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman. (August 7, 2010). "AP Exclusive: CIA flight carried secret from Gitmo". [[Associated Press]].
114. [http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/18/the_dark_side_jane_mayer_on Amy Goodman, "'The Dark Side': Jane Mayer on the Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, Interview Transcript"], ''Democracy Now'', July 18, 2008
115. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/washington/09zubaydah.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin Mark Mazzetti and David Johnston "Inquiry Begins Into Destruction of Tapes"]. ''New York Times'', December 9, 2007
116. Benjamin, Mark. (May 14, 2009). "Soufan: CIA torture actually hindered our intelligence gathering". [[Salon (website).
117. [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/20/sitroom.02.html Transcript for ''The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer''] CNN, June 20, 2006
118. George Tenet, ''At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA'', HarperCollins, 2007
119. [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alleged-9-11-mastermind-nabbed/ "Alleged 9-11 Mastermind Nabbed"] CBS News, March 1, 2003
120. [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/04/nyregion/news-summary-384283.html "News Summary: Arrest May Deter Attacks"]. ''New York Times'', April 4, 2002
121. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7430560_ITM "Bush Says He and Congress Will Band Together on Iraq; Capitol Hill Still Sour"], ''Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News'', September 27, 2002 {{registration required
122. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article6168270.ece]{{dead link. (September 2024)
123. [https://archive.today/20130201162835/http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/04/13/document_dump/ Fritz Umbach, "Bush's bogus document dump"], ''Salon'', April 13, 2006
124. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060104071811/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/803czhfn.asp?pg=2 Stephen F. Hayes, "The Rice Stuff?"], ''The Daily Standard'', October 20, 2004
125. John Diamond and Bill Nichols [https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-06-08-cia-usat_x.htm "CIA in spotlight over reports leading to war"], June 8, 2003
126. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/world/threats-and-responses-cia-captives-deny-qaeda-worked-with-baghdad.html James Risen, "Threats and Responses: C.I.A.; Captives Deny Qaeda Worked With Baghdad"], ''The New York Times'', June 9, 2003
127. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/opinion/26rich.html Frank Rich, "The Banality of Bush White House Evil"], ''The New York Times'', April 25, 2009
128. [http://armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf Senate Armed Services Committee, ''Inquiry Into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody''] {{webarchive. link. (April 29, 2009 , Senate Armed Services Committee, November 20, 2008)
129. [http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/05/the_lies_on_torture_just_keep.php Ed Brayton, "The Lies on Torture Just Keep Coming"] {{webarchive. link. (May 7, 2009 , ''Science'' Blogs, May 4, 2009)
130. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/11/opinion/edbrody.php Reed Brody "Prisoners who disappear"]. ''International Herald Tribune'', October 12, 2004
131. Douglas Jehl, David Johnston, and Neil A. Lewis [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025120826/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-105455175.html "CIA called uncomfortable with role on war prisoners Holding terror suspects raises concerns"], ''International Herald Tribune'', February 16, 2005
132. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/19/AR2006061901211.html Barton Gellman, "The Shadow War, In a Surprising New Light"], ''Washington Post'', June 20, 2006, accessed January 20, 2013
133. [https://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/05/20/justice-dept-inspector-general-claims-cia-hampered-its-investigation.html Emma Schwartz, "Justice Dept. Inspector General Claims CIA Hampered its Investigation"], ''U.S. News & World Report'', May 20, 2008
134. Marguiles, Joseph. (April 30, 2009). "The suffering of Abu Zubaydah". Los Angeles Times.
135. Richey, Warren. (September 15, 2006). "'Alternative' CIA tactics complicate Padilla case". The Christian Science Monitor.
136. Lewis, Neil A.. (April 21, 2002). "A Nation Challenged: The Detainees; U.S. Is Seeking Basis to Charge War Detainees". The New York Times.
137. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8932707_ITM Frank Davies, "U.S. readies tribunals for terrorism trials"], ''The Miami Herald'', December 26, 2002{{Dead link. (March 2020)
138. (June 16, 2009). "CIA Says It Misjudged Role of High-Value Detainee Abu Zubaida, Transcript Shows". The Washington Post.
139. Margulies, Joseph. (2018-09-28). "The Innocence of Abu Zubaydah".
140. Mickum, Brent. (January 12, 2005). "Brent Mickum: Tortured, humiliated and crying out for some justice".
141. Romboy, Dennis. (March 17, 2016). "D.C. judge resigns on same day Utahn accuses him of decades-old rape". [[KSL.com]].
142. [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/commissions.html Department of Defense Military Commissions Cases Website], April 30, 2009
143. Bonner, Raymond. (May 12, 2015). "'Incommunicado' Forever: #Gitmo Detainee's Case Stalled For 2,477 Days And Counting". North Denver News.
144. Finn, Peter. (January 22, 2010). "Justice task force recommends about 50 Guantanamo detainees be held indefinitely". The Washington Post.
145. Finn, Peter. (May 29, 2010). "Most Guantanamo detainees low-level fighters, task force report says". The Washington Post.
146. Worthington, Andy. (June 11, 2010). "Does Obama Really Know or Care About Who Is at Guantánamo?".
147. (2013-04-09). "71 Guantanamo Detainees Determined Eligible to Receive a Periodic Review Board as of April 19, 2013". [[Joint Review Task Force]].
148. (22 September 2016). "Unclassified Summary of Final Determination".
149. (July 24, 2014). "Poland 'helped in CIA rendition', European Court rules". [[BBC News]].
150. (July 25, 2014). "European Court Assails Poland Over Role in CIA 'Black Sites'". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
151. (May 31, 2018). "Lithuania and Romania complicit in CIA torture – European court". BBC News.
152. Napolitano, Andrew P.. (March 14, 2022). "The Torturers' Apprentice". Jewish World Review.
153. (March 3, 2022). "United States v. Husayn, aka Zubaydah, et al.". Supreme Court of the United States.