A view through a window in an exhibition area in a former prison in Cottbus
A view through a window in an exhibition area in a former prison in Cottbus November 4, 2014. Sunday marks 25 years since the collapse of the regime that imprisoned and persecuted them, but many victims of former communist East Germany are still so traumatised that celebrating the unification of their country may forever be a challenge. Picture taken November 4, 2014. Reuters

In a shrewd political move, president Obama has turned the tables on Republicans by digging out a CIA torture report to douse their euphoria, in the aftermath of the victory in Senate polls. Coinciding with the report's release on Tuesday, President Obama slammed the CIA indirectly and said the details of the report covers a "troubling programme" that harmed America's reputation. Mr Obama is credited with stopping the enhanced detention programmes started under Bush presidency.

The President said the brutal methods "were not only inconsistent with our values as nation, and they did not serve our broader counterterrorism efforts in meeting our national security interests. Moreover, these techniques did significant damage to America's standing in the world and made it harder to pursue our interests with allies and partners."

The release of the report came at a time when the Democratic Party is all set to lose control in the Senate. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat, chaired the Intelligence Committee and oversaw the report's production, reported Washington Times. The summary report in 500 pages indicted the CIA for its use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and spicing up inaccurate claims from its results as being useful to counter terror measures. It also charged the spy agency for having misled the President, the Congress and the public with its spurious claims about the utility of information extracted from such third degree torture.

Terrible Torture

Specific examples of the brutality unleashed by CIA interrogators have also been mentioned. It included the November 2002 death of a detainee from hypothermia, after he was held partially nude and chained to a concrete floor at a secret CIA prison.

Sleep deprivation for suspects as long as 180 hours was another mode of torture. The detainees were at times had their hands shackled above their heads, and techniques such as "rectal feeding" or "rectal hydration" were also attempted without any documented medical need. The report also mentioned about a secret CIA prison, used as a "dungeon" where detainees were kept in total darkness, shackled in isolated cells, and bombarded with loud noise with only a bucket to relieve themselves.

CIA Justifies

The CIA, which had opposed the release of the report has backed down. CIA Director John Brennan in a statement said interrogations of detainees on whom enhanced interrogation techniques were applied had helped the agency in producing vital intelligence to thwart many attack plans and in the capture of terrorists. He claimed the intelligence was critical to understanding the modus operandi of al Qaeda and in informing counterterrorism efforts to this day.

Reacting to the report, former president George W. Bush said he has not read the report, but he defended the CIA. The former president rejected the notion that his administration was kept in the dark about the rendition, detention and interrogation programme. The Sydney Morning Herald in a report said the release of the report created a divide in the capital, with many Republicans saying it will endanger American interests.

McCain's Support

But a leading Republican supported the report. It was Senator John McCain, who was tortured during the Vietnam War. "I know torture compromises what distinguishes us from our enemies.Our belief that all people, even the captured possess basic human rights which are protected by international conventions, in which the United States have joined and most part authored," he said.