A Pakistani terrorism suspect denied any connection to al-Qaida and said he was tortured and his family was hounded by U.S. authorities, according to a transcript released Tuesday by the Pentagon.
Majid Khan, in a lengthy written statement, said the CIA and the Defense Department tortured him after his capture in Pakistan as well as when he was transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
“I swear to God this place in some sense worst than CIA jails. I am being mentally torture here,” said Khan in a statement read by his personal representative about his time in Guantanamo. “There is extensive torture even for the smallest of infractions.”
Khan, who grew up in Maryland and is the only U.S. resident among 15 detainees the government considers most dangerous, also described suicide attempts where he “chewed my artery which goes through my elbow.”
[snip]
[Majid Khan’s father] Ali Shoukat Khan said his son was kidnapped in Pakistan and that there, Americans tortured his son “for eight hours at a time, tying him tightly in stressful positions in a small chair until his hands, feet and mind went numb … He was often hooded and had difficulty breathing. They also beat him repeatedly, slapping him in the face, and deprived him of sleep.”
The elder Khan, a retired gas station owner, said his son is not a terrorist and demanded that the government present its evidence, “charge him with a crime and give him a fair trial in a real court.” He also said he and his family were pressured by the FBI to speculate about his son’s activities.