CIA torture techniques used on al-Qaeda suspects included sleep deprivation for 180 hours in shackled, stress positions and waterboarding to the point of unconsciousness, according to a long-delayed and highly controversial report published on Tuesday.
At least five CIA detainees were subjected to 'rectal feeding' or 'rectal hydration' without medical need, the report states. Rectal feeding is an enema administered with the intent of providing nutrition when normal feeding is not possible – common in 19th-century medicine.
The al-Qaeda suspects were subjected to stress positions for days and weeks on end with hands shackled above their heads at CIA-run 'black sites' or the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
One suspect died of hypothermia while naked chained to a floor, in brutal methods worse than the agency previously reported.
The U.S. military was on high alert around the world on Tuesday in preparation for ugly details of American torture techniques being released.