[JURIST] The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] used torture methods beyond waterboarding on suspected terrorists, according to a report [report] published by the Telegraph Sunday. The UK-based news outlet spoke to an unnamed “security source” who alleged that the “CIA brought top al-Qaeda suspects close ‘to the point of death’ by drowning them in water-filled baths during interrogation sessions. According to the report, such “extreme” torture techniques were used on a number of al Qaeda suspects including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [NYT backgrounder; JURST news archive]. These allegations against the CIA come as the US Senate Intelligence Committee is set to publish a declassified version of a report summarizing CIA documents regarding torture. Publication of the report has been delayed because of disputes between Senators and the CIA over the extent of the redaction from the public version, but it is expected to available in the coming weeks.

In late August 10 victims of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program [JURIST news archive] signed an open letter [text, PDF] to US President Barack Obama [official website] urging him to declassify the upcoming Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the program. In July the European Court of Human Rights [official website] handed down two rulings [JURIST report] finding the Polish government in violation of European human rights laws based on the establishment of prison center linked to CIA’s extraordinary rendition program in Poland. In June Senior UN officials urged [JURIST report] the international community to end the practice of torture in acknowledgment of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture [official website].