Guantanamo detainee tells US military court of CIA torture: Report

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A former al-Qaeda courier who was detained by the US in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay has told a court about the brutal torture he endured at the hands of the CIA, according to a recently published report.

Majid Khan was addressing jurors as they weighed his sentence for war crimes. He said during his sentencing hearing, which is expected to conclude on Friday, that he was subjected to "days of painful abuse" at CIA black sites, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Khan's case marks the first time a high-profile Guantanamo detainee testified in court about his experience in enduring the US intelligence community's "enhanced interrogation" techniques, a program that has been a black stain on the CIA and been widely condemned as torture.

"I thought I was going to die," Khan said, according to the AP.

"I would beg them to stop and swear to them that I didn't know anything," he added. "If I had intelligence to give I would have given it already but I didn't have anything to give."

Khan reportedly told the court that he was forced to remain awake for days on end, and was doused with ice water to prevent him from sleeping. He also recalled being suspended from a beam while naked for extended periods of time.

Khan is a Pakistani national who was born in Saudi Arabia. His family moved to the US in the 1990s and was granted asylum.

He pled guilty in 2012 to a host of crimes, including murder and attempted murder, according to the AP. A military judge ruled in June that a jury could grant the former al-Qaeda operative a more lenient sentence due to the torture he sustained, National Public Radio reported at the time.

Khan apologized during Thursday's hearing, taking full responsibility for his actions while saying he forgives the individuals who tortured him.

"I have also tried to make up for the bad things I have done," he said, according to the AP. "That's why I pleaded guilty and cooperated with the USA government."

Thirty-nine people remain imprisoned at the military facility at Guantanamo Bay, including five men charged with orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks.