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For the first time, the two architects of the CIA torture program are facing justice for their role in the illegal treatment of detainees. Here we provide you with some useful background including a video.

James Elmer Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen, the two psychologists who established the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation program,” pocketed $81 million in taxpayer funds for their efforts. But they may be getting more than they bargained for, now that Judge Justin L. Quackenbush of the Eastern District of Washington State has ruled that victims of the program can sue the men.

The American Civil Liberties Union serves as legal counsel for torture victims Suleiman Abdullah Salim and Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, as well as the family of Gul Rahman, who froze to death in his unheated cell while in CIA custody in 2002.

According to a Senate Intelligence Committee report, neither psychologist had experience as an interrogator nor special knowledge about terrorism before being tapped to run the CIA‘s torture program.

This short video reveals more details about this egregious case of government overreach in violation of the US Constitution.

Related front page panorama photo credit: James Elmer Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen (Daily Kos), Victim background (ACLU)

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