Reports that CIA agents may be helping their Palestinian security counterparts to torture prisoners (Special report, 18 December) are bad enough. What is more of a concern to me, though, is that Palestinians, for so long holding the moral ground in the struggle for justice in the Holy Land, could actually torture their fellow Palestinians; this concern applies equally whether the alleged torturers belong to Fatah or Hamas. Even more worrying is that Said Abu-Ali, the Palestinian Authority's interior minister, has sought to excuse what is happening because such abuses "happen in every country in the world". So that makes it OK, then. Astonishing. And he's a minister in the government regarded as the "moderates" by the US, Europe and Britain.

Ibrahim Hewitt

Senior editor, Middle East Monitor

• That the CIA has been supporting torturers in the Palestinian security forces should come as no surprise. The CIA has a long history of training foreign security forces in torture techniques, even though they were forbidden in the US itself (until Bush and Cheney decided it was time to remove the kid gloves). The CIA helped train the Shah of Iran's notorious Savak secret police, the Pakistani secret services and a whole list of paramilitary forces in Central America.

During its war against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, its infamous training manual, demonstrating the use of torture techniques, became public and caused widespread outrage. If Obama wishes to retain any humanitarian credibility, he should clean up the CIA and outlaw all torture techniques and their export.

John Green

London