'TOP--esesaw o THE CIA INTERROGATION o ABU o ZUBAYDAH March 2001 --1101 -643e7 Jan 2003 00 97 2007-88084G010443 0002 4 it o CIA interrocation Techniques Abu Zubayda -test Abu Zubavdahs Terrorist Activities o Abu Zubaydah was born a Palestinian and now holds Saudi citizenship He was a senior lieutenant to Bin Ladin o At the time of his capture in Pakistan he was heavily involved in al Qa'ida's operational planning and had previously been an external liaison and logistics coordinator o Taking him out of circulation has hurt al-Qa'ida operations' in key nodes and helped disrupt a number of ongoing plots 40 414014 - PAuriee at Time of Capture o Abu Zubaydah was hit o t o bullets durin the arrestin ose ation o o Abu Zubaydah was provided adequate and appropriate medical care o The medical treatment the Agency provided to Abu Zubaydah saved his life He should now be considered healthy other than some leg and knee pain 'Highlights from Reporting by Abu Zubaydah o Information from Abu Zubaydah-who was captured in late March-led to the capture of other operatives and continues to provide some of our most valuable insights into the inner workings of al-Qa'ida Over time he hoomma wirr wil14nn 1-n relmituraFP An Many issues and his extensive familiarity with other al-Qa'ida terrorists and their methodologies daily helps us identify ways to exploit other detainees and to assess the credibility of reporting from a variety of sources 00298 TOP CECRAWA 449 74 44h4714a 2007-81308- G010444 11 1419 r Trir- 5efierf- - o Abu Zubaydah identified Jose Padilla and Binyam Muhammad as al-Qa'ida operatives who had plans to detonate a uranium-topped dirty bomb in either Washington DC or New York City Both have been captured o In additiOn Abu Zudbaydah in erator in ''aoa 2002 Abu Zubaydah had been the o As of mid-Dec disseminated countersource of over terrorism inte igence repor s o o Tor CECTIET 421e ' Interroaation Techniques used on Abu Zubavdah The Agency used both routine and enhanced interrogation techniques against Abu Zubaydah o After consulting with the NSC and DOJ CTC originally approved 24-48 hours of sleep deprivation 3 00300 2007-8808-IG010446 00027 -9EUR#P--OBeftWNM1111111 1 111MIMe0eRNO 4K - In April 2002 CTC learned that due to a misunderstanding that time frame had been exceeded o However CTC advised that since the process did not have adverse medical effects or result in hallucination thereby disrupting profoundly Abu Zubaydah's senses or personality it was within legal parameters 6 After first using routine interrogation techniques the interrogation team concluded that Abu Zubaydah continued to withhold critical threat information including the identities of al Qaida pperatives in the US that in order to elicit those identities the use of more aggressive techniques was required and that the use of those techniques would not engender lasting ana severe mental or physical harm o Abu Zubaydah has employed a host of resistance' techniques He is the author of a seminal al Qaida manual on resistance to interrogation methods o The Agency sought and rece'ved Department of Justic o II o-011 r- _ 1_1 _ 1 o o Specific interrogation team members may request prior approval from Headquarters to employ any or all of the enhanced techniques o Where a specifia time period was allowed for a particular technique a timekeeper was used to ensure that the techniques was only employed within the timeframes authorized o Agendy employees engaged in the interrogation are complemented by expert personnel who possess extensive experience gained within the Department of Defense on the- psychological and physical methods of interrogation SERE and the resistance techniques employed as countermeasures to such interrogation These expert medical personnel were present throughout the interrocrations o It is not and has never been the Agency's intent to permit Abu Zubaydah to die in the course of interrogation and 'appropriately trained medical 4 134--seepffiay 0030 1 4 2007-8808-IG010447 Tor mcnra mepeittn rt- personnel have been on-site in the event an emergency medical situation arises o DOJ approval for use of the enhanced techniques in specific instances relies on our representation that those techniques when applied by appropriately trained personnel should not produce severe mental or physical pain or suffering o Indeed DOJ concluded that the use of enhanced techniques carefully applied by appropriate personnel pursuant to prior Headquarters approval would not have the specific intent to inflict severe mental or physical pain or suffering and therefore would not violate the law oo o For these reasons we fully document in advance any decision to employ any enhanced techniques along with the criteria that have been employed in making those decisions o The use of enhanced interrogation techniques proved productive Abu Zubaydah provided additional useful information o Medical evaluations were conducted on Abu Zubaydah before and during the interrogations In addition a psychological profile was conducted on him before the interrogations began o o 5 00302 Aiffei 14741 1 000275 2007-88084G010448 asg omfgm a A Itelo-59EUR44 014 - ide-tap a a orney review interrogation ioeotapes u Z oay a an another detainee to confirm that the cable traffic accurately described the interrogation methods employed and that the methods conformed to the applicable legal and policy guidance the OGC attorney o ha ntitprevlous y een nvolved in this matter reviewed the applicable legal and policy guidance governing the permissible interrogation and the cable traffic and interviewed CTC and personnel knowledgeable about the matter o The attorney inventoried the interrogation ma ariaoeo apes 1 fbook noteb o and psychologist's notesand reviewed the videotapes o The attorney- concluded that the cable traffic did in fact accurately describe the interrogation methods-employed and that the methods conformed to the applicable legal and policy guidance o After this review the General Counsel advised the DCI that OGC had no objection to the destruction ' of the videotapes but strongly recommended that the new leadership of the committees first be notified about the existence of the tapes and the reasons why the Agency has decided to destroy them o Guidelines CTC drafted 'Guidelines on Interrogation Standards' and Guidelines on Confinement Conditions for CIA Detainees The guidelines are being coordinated Once approved all Agency personnel involved in interrogations or detentions will review these guidelines and acknowledge in writing that they have read and understand them o Training CIA has established an interrogation program to'train interrogators on techniques cenerallv enhanced techniques specifically facilities security and the approval process 4443r-W441-046-1 08 M 2007 8808-1G010450 193 5 x 00308 momma-$010452 00-0283 00367 000284 200738086010453 o - SteRLo11- o 3 NP Abu Zubaydah AZ was born a Palestinian and now holds Saudi citizenship o 4644NP4 AZ was - a senior lieutenant to UBL At the time of'his capture in Pakistan he was heavily involved in Al Qa'ida's operational planning and had previously been an external liaison and logistics coordinator o c jur AZ has corroborated intelligence on key Al Qa'ida planners and facilitators and has provided o information on Al Qa'ida's CBRN program and on individuals associated with that program Information from AZ was instrumental in the capture-near Chicago of Jose Padilla a dirty bomb plotter explosives expert and terrorist trainer at Qandahar AZ also a senior Al Qa'ida ooerator in ied o AZ was hit b two bullets during the arresting ooeration AZ should oe con some ag and knee pain 00308 00928 7-8808-1G01 00308 2007-8808-3 6010455 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu