by Sputnik company, established by two psychologists with no background on interrogation, was awarded millions of dollars by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for developing and implementing the agency’s enhanced interrogation techniques against the detainees, suspected in terrorism, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate said.
“In 2006, the value of the CIA’s base contract with the company, formed by the psychologists with all options exercised was in excess of $180 million; the contractors received $81 million prior to the contract’s termination in 2009,” the report read.
According to the report, in 2005, the psychologists formed a company for the purpose of working with the CIA, and later the agency began outsourcing all aspects of the interrogation program to them, paying them millions for their services.
“The CIA contracted with two psychologists to develop, operate, and assess its interrogation operations…” the report said.
“Neither psychologist had any experience as an interrogator, nor did either have specialized knowledge of al-Qa’ida [al-Qaeda], a background in counterterrorism, or any relevant cultural or linguistic expertise,” it continued.
The psychologists were responsible for carrying out a lot of functions, including acting as a liaison between the CIA and foreign intelligence, assessing the effectiveness of the interrogation program and interrogating the detainees, who were held in foreign government custody.
The Senate Intelligence Committee said that the enhanced interrogation techniques that were used by the CIA were ineffective in obtaining information from the detainees.
On Tuesday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released the summary that included over 500 pages of the detailed investigation into the CIA interrogation techniques that were used on alleged al-Qaeda agents, following the 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York.
Following the release of the report on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama vowed not to use the methods of torture outlined in the report during the time of his presidency.