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Most Read. Son of former Libyan leader Gaddafi to run for president. Khan spoke of being suspended naked from a ceiling beam for long periods, doused repeatedly with ice water to keep him awake for days. He described having his head held under water to the point of near drowning, only to have water poured into his nose and mouth when the interrogators let him up. He was beaten, given forced enemas, sexually assaulted and starved in overseas prisons whose locations were not disclosed.
The jury of eight military officers sentenced Khan on Friday to 26 years. But under a plea deal, he could be released as soon as next year because of his extensive cooperation with US authorities. After that, he would be resettled in an as-yet to be determined third country.
He cannot return to Pakistan, where he has citizenship. Jurors were not told about the pre-trial agreement, which requires a Pentagon legal official known as a convening authority to cut his sentence to no more than 11 years because of his cooperation. Much of what he detailed echoes findings of a key report released in which examined the CIA's interrogation programme. Khan was sentenced to 26 years in prison - the lower end of sentencing guidelines - last week after admitting helping al-Qaeda plots in But in a letter urging clemency, seven of the eight-member military jury said Khan's treatment "was of no practical value in terms of intelligence, or any other tangible benefit to US interests".
US reports say a plea deal, based on the year-old's cooperation with officials in the intervening period since he admitted guilt in , could lead to his release as early as February after almost two decades in US custody. The conventional argument against torture is based on a simple premise: it does not work. Suspects lie, to avoid the pain.
The military officers stated this in their letter: Majid Khan told his interrogators nothing useful. As military historians and policymakers know, however, torture does work, sometimes. Dennis Blair, a former director of national intelligence for President Obama, said that these types of interrogations can provide "high value information"; other former US officials said that the interrogations helped US authorities develop a better understanding of the structure of al-Qaeda.
Yet the military officers made another argument in their letter, one that carries more weight: they objected to torture on moral grounds.
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