Letter suggests CIA destroyed torture tapes after damning report

Almost exactly a year ago, the US Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the destruction of two videotapes by the CIA, which reportedly showed acts of torture committed during interrogations of detainees in the so-called “war on terrorism”. After an initial interest in the case, the US media then forgot about it and moved on to other things. One person who chose not to forget this issue is investigative reporter Jason Leopold. In a new article, Leopold references new information showing that the CIA destroyed the videotapes in question after –not before, as the Agency has claimed– a spring 2004 report by the CIA’s inspector general, which described the interrogation methods employed against CIA prisoners as “constitut[ing] cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment”. Read the article here. [IA]