Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture

The Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program is a report compiled by the bipartisan United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s Detention and Interrogation Program and its use of various forms of torture ("enhanced interrogation techniques" in U.S. government communiqués) on detainees between 2001 and 2006 during the "War on Terror". The final report was approved on December 13, 2012, by a vote of 9–6, with seven Democrats, one Independent, and one Republican voting in favor of publication and six Republicans voting in opposition.

The 6,000-page report details actions by CIA officials and findings of the study of the Detention and Interrogation Program. On December 9, 2014—eight months after voting to release parts of the report—the SSCI released a 525-page portion that consisted of key findings and an executive summary of the full report. It took five years and $40 million to compile the report. The rest of it remains classified.

The report details actions by CIA officials, including torturing prisoners, providing misleading or false information about classified CIA programs to the media, impeding government oversight and internal criticism, and mismanaging the program. It also revealed the existence of previously unknown detainees, that more detainees were subjected to harsher treatment than was previously disclosed, and that more forms of torture were used than previously disclosed. It concluded that torturing prisoners did not help acquire actionable intelligence or gain cooperation from detainees and that the program damaged the United States' international standing.

Some people, including CIA officials and U.S. Republicans, disputed the report's interpretations and said it provided an incomplete or inaccurate picture of the program. Others criticized the publishing of the report, citing its potential for damage to the U.S. and the contentious history of its development. Others, including President Obama and former Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, praised the release of the report with the President stating "one of the strengths that makes America exceptional is our willingness to openly confront our past, face our imperfections, make changes and do better."

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