Criminal Probe Begins on CIA's Destruction of US Torture Videos

Wa****ngton, January 3 (RHC)-- The U.S. Justice Department has launched
a criminal investigation into the CIA's destruction of videotapes
depicting the harsh interrogation of two prisoners held in secret
jails. On Wednesday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed veteran
federal prosecutor John Durham to oversee the probe.

The Justice Department move immediately came under criticism from
Democrats who want an independent investigation from a special counsel.
In a statement, House Judiciary chair John Conyers said the probe
should expand its scope to include other destroyed evidence and the
nature of the interrogations that the videotapes captured.

The CIA last month disclosed that it had destroyed in 2005 hundreds of
hours of tapes from the interrogations of two suspects, prompting an
outcry from Democrats, human rights activists and some legal experts.
The interrogations, which took place in 2002, were believed to have
included a form of simulated drowning known as waterboarding, condemned
internationally as torture.

The Justice Department and the CIA's inspector general last month
launched an initial inquiry into the tapes. Congress is also
investigating the tapes' destruction. The CIA claims it will "cooperate
fully with this investigation, as it has with others into this matter."
But the agency's inspector general, John Helgerson, said he would step
aside from the full investigation. He said that the inspector general's
office had reviewed the tapes "some years ago" as part of a review into
agency interrogations and that he had helped prepare a re****t on the
issue.

                                   ***

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Truth about US Torture Videos Must be Unmasked

Wa****ngton, Jan 3 (Prensa Latina) It is essential to unmask the CIA
officers or White House officials responsible for the destruction of
the videos on detainee tortures, The New York Times demanded Thursday
in a editorial.

The influential US daily urges the Department of Justice to present the
images on the tapes, and explain how they were destroyed.

"The videos showing interrogation of two Al Qaeda members in 2002
would corroborate the application of torture with the consent of the
president," the daily sustains.

The order for the destruction of the tapes seems to be a move by the
administration of US President George W Bush to conceal many of the
abuses committed in the name of the alleged anti-terror fight, the
editorial reads.

Similarly, it applauds the Department of Justice's announcement
yesterday that the destruction of the videos revealing violent
interrogations of prisoners will be investigated.

hr dig et mf PL-14
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