sputniknews | Torture is being practiced in the United States’ prison system,
formerly incarcerated Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) whistleblower
John Kiriakou told a public meeting in Washington, DC.
“I want to talk about the kind of torture that
still goes on in our own prisons today,” Kiriakou said on Wednesday. “I
want to talk about why the UN [United Nations] Special Rapporteur
on Human Rights is not allowed into our prisons,” he added.
Kiriakou was recently released from house arrest after serving more
than 23 months in a maximum security US federal prison in Loretto,
Pennsylvania for exposing the CIA’s post-September 11 torture program.
The United States does not allow UN inspectors into its prisons “because
we have something to hide,” Kiriakou said. “Their human rights are
being violated and we are covering it up.”
While serving his sentence, Kiriakou witnessed prisoners being
beaten, having medication withheld, living in dangerously overcrowded
conditions as well as being kept in solitary confinement for prolonged
periods.
“I have come to believe that solitary is a form of torture,” he commented.
After leaving prison, Kiriakou announced he will focus on prison and
criminal justice reform at the social justice organization, the
Institute for Policy Studies.
Kiriakou stressed that the lack of effective oversight by the US
Congress means the un-redacted US Senate Intelligence committee torture
report, documenting the CIA's enhanced interrogation program, will
likely not come to light.
“There is no oversight on Capitol Hill,”
Kiriakou said on Wednesday commenting on the possibility of the full
torture report being released by Congress. “We have these oversight
committees… they act as nothing more than cheerleaders for the agencies
they are supposed to have jurisdiction over.”
