American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantanamo Both the US CIA and FBI and more need permanently canceled, shutdown, disbanded, with rehire prohibited. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4443310 SSRN-id4443310.pdf American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantanamo 131 Pages Posted: Mark Denbeaux Seton Hall Law School; Seton Hall Law School Dr. Jess Ghannam affiliation not provided to SSRN Abu Zubaydah affiliation not provided to SSRN Date Written: May 9, 2023 Abstract Despite the efforts of the federal government, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency, to conceal evidence of the actual operation of the “enhanced interrogation techniques” (“EITs”) it deployed on detainees in dark sites and at Guantanamo, a steady drumbeat of disclosures has provided an unparalleled view into this disgraceful episode in the nation’s history. One of the most dramatic revelations has been the drawings by Detainee Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn aka Abu Zubaydah (hereinafter “Mr. Abu Zubaydah”), the first victim of such EITs. These drawings viscerally convey the brutal reality the CIA sought to hide with its calculated destruction of video recordings of torture conducted by its agents. These drawings also depict the kinds of torture -- in which the FBI was also complicit -- inflicted on the artist and his fellow detainees. These tortures are, if possible, all the more disturbing as to Mr. Abu Zubaydah himself because even the torturers—CIA and FBI – now recognize that his was a case of mistaken identity. Nevertheless, he remains in detention – albeit uncharged – until this day. His drawings dovetail with the recent accounts of Dr. James Mitchell, a chief architect of the torture regime, who both wrote a book on EITs and testified in hearings on Guantanamo. These sources, together with the report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, provide the most complete – and compelling – account to date of America’s torture program. This Report is an amalgam of the work of many individuals but special credit must be accorded Mr. Abu Zubaydah’s artistic renderings of the mistreatment he and other detainees received. All 40 of Mr. Abu Zubaydah’s drawings and descriptions of torture can be found in the Appendix. Questions regarding the Report may be addressed to Professor Emeritus Mark P. Denbeaux at Mark.Denbeaux@shu.edu. Keywords: Abu Zubaydah, FBI, CIA, GTMO, Guantanamo, torture, national security, detainees, water boarding, waterboarding, enhanced interrogation techniques, EIT, walling, black sites, terrorism, CIA, SSCI Report, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Suggested Citation: Denbeaux, Mark and Ghannam, Jess and Zubaydah, Abu, American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantanamo (May 9, 2023).