Australia accused after CIA torture report

"Waterboarding", the practice of torturing prisoners by partially drowning them, was one of the torture practices used at Guantanamo. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA is in the firing line after the release of the US Senate report on the CIA's torture program.

The government is under intense pressure after the country appearing on a list of nations that enabled renditions and were open to legally questionable measures by the agency.

Now, two ex-Guantanamo detainees are using the report's release as an opportunity to increase the heat, accusing Australia of complicity in torture.

Ex-inmate David Hicks confronted Attorney-General George Brandis at a Sydney awards ceremony, calling him a coward and insisting the former government had full knowledge of his alleged torture.

Ex-Guantanamo inmate David Hicks said the report made it harder for those who deny torture took place there. Source: AFP

The 39-year-old spent six years at the facility from 2001 and has described long periods of solitary confinement, beatings and forced druggings by his US captors.

These torture methods and others — including the simulated drowning of waterboarding, electrical shocks, grinding white noise, extended use of stress positions, and "rectal rehydration" — were exposed in the report.

"Hey, my name is David Hicks!" he shouted, as Senator Brandis wrapped up his address at the human rights function. "I was tortured for five-and-a-half years in Guantanamo Bay in the full knowledge of your party! What do you have to say?"

The Attorney-General, a member of the John Howard government that was in power when Mr Hicks was incarcerated, did not respond.

Ex-terror suspect Mamdouh Habib, pictured with his wife, says he will continue to pursue the Australian government. Source: News Limited

"He's run away," Mr Hicks, who has previously accused the government of using him as a "political scapegoat", told reporters.

Speaking toGuardian Australia at the 2014 Human Rights Awards, Mr Hicks said release of the report "makes it harder for those who deny that torture took place [at Guantanamo Bay].

"There are Australian officials ... who knew the entire time what was happening to me, and what the practices were in Guantanamo, even though they told the Australian public that everything was fine, that I was being treated humanely."

His father, Terry, added: "Now that this has come about, someone has to be held accountable.

"There will still be cover ups, there will still be denials, but it's there in black and white, it comes from the CIA."

Waterboarding, the practice of torturing prisoners by partially drowning them, was one of the torture techniques used by the CIA. Source: AAP

Mr Hicks's lawyer Stephen Kenny told the ABC his client was angry Mr Brandis was talking about human rights.

"The Australian government should be held to account on how they allowed David Hicks to be treated," he said, adding that the CIA report was "a vindication".

"It confirms everything that we know, that this was just frankly routine and carried out in quite a brutal manner, and David still carries the scars of it today."

Mr Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001 and accused of fighting with the Taliban against US forces that invaded the country after the 9/11 attacks.

He was allowed to return to Australia in May 2007 after striking a deal with US military prosecutors.

Another ex-detainee, Mamdouh Habib, vowed to reopen his case for compensation over torture inflicted upon him, amid the shock that accompanied report's release.

Mr Hicks heckled George Brandis at a Human Rights Awards ceremony in Sydney. Source: ABC

"America and Australia complain about terrorists but they are the terrorists," he told The Australian.

Mr Habib was captured in Pakistan in October 2001. The Open Society Justice Initiative details how he was interrogated by US and Australian officials, but they failed to prevent his subsequent mistreatment and extraordinary rendition to Egypt.

It has also been alleged that Australian officials witnessed his mistreatment in Egypt but failed to intervene on his behalf.

An Egyptian intelligence officer has claimed Australian officials were present during Mr Habib's torture in Egypt, and that one named "George" was present for Mr Habib's "medical check," in which he was naked, hysterical, handcuffed, and had his feet tied.

Mr Habib said the Senate report "proves that I am a truthful person and what I have been saying is right", Fairfax Media reported.

He said he was "angry" at his treatment, despite the government paying him an undisclosed settlement in December 2010 after it emerged that Australian officials were present during his torture in Egypt.

The US Senate report on the CIA could open the doors for hundreds of cases against governments worldwide. Source: AP

He alleges that he suffered both physical and psychological abuse throughout his detention.

An inquiry into Mr Habib's detention and torture ordered by Julia Gillard found that Australian officials who visited him in Pakistan had no knowledge of his mistreatment there, that Australian officials were not involved in his transfer to Egypt, and that "no Australian official attended Mr Habib's place of detention" in Egypt.

But it said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation should have made inquiries into how Mr Habib would be treated in Egypt before providing information that may have been used in his questioning.

It also found credible Mr Habib's claim that he was questioned in Egypt regarding information that had been gained by an ASIO search of his home.

The report said the government did not provide adequate consular assistance and that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should have taken a more "proactive approach" to pursuing welfare visits with Mr Habib. It said information to Mr Habib's wife was "inadequate."

More than 100 countries were implicated on some level in the shocking report. Source: AFP

The inquiry seemingly did not investigate the statements of the Egyptian intelligence officer who alleged that Australian officials were involved in Mr Habib's detention, claiming that Mr Habib did not provide the inquiry with a copy of the statements.

Mr Habib has been trying to sue the Egyptian government, but the case collapsed two weeks ago because the Australian government refused to verify whether certain official papers were genuine.

A spokeswoman for DFAT said that under international law, the Australian government is not obligated to participate in foreign legal proceedings.

There have been concerns that the CIA revelations could set off hundreds of costly legal cases by former suspects across the world, as well as more allegations of inhumane practices by intelligence agencies.

An Egyptian intelligence officer has claimed Australian officials were present during Mr Habib's torture in Egypt. Source: News Limited

An Attorney-General's Department spokesperson told news.com.au: "Australia condemns absolutely the use of torture in any circumstance.

"Australia is party to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and other forms of inhuman, cruel or degrading treatment. We take our obligations under this convention seriously.

"Australia has also enacted a specific offence within the Commonwealth Criminal Code that explicitly forbids any public official or person acting in an official capacity from inflicting physical or mental suffering for the purpose of obtaining information, punishing or intimidating a person. This law applies to any Australian regardless of whether they are outside of Australian borders.

Abu Zubaydah, an al-Qaeda terror suspect, was the CIA's guinea-pig for brutal torture tactics that included being subjected to grinding white noise and sleep deprivation tactics. Source: AP

"At Australia's request, the US has twice investigated Mr Hicks' allegations of mistreatment. These investigations found no evidence of abuse, and the US has assured Australia that Mr Hicks was treated humanely while in custody.

"In January 2011, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security conducted an inquiry into the actions of Australian agencies in relation to the arrest and detention overseas of Mr Habib from 2001 to 2005.

"The report found that no Australian official was involved or complicit in any alleged mistreatment or relocation of Mr Habib while he was detained overseas."

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