The civil case against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for destroying 92 videotapes containing footage of detainees being interrogated and tortured has run its course, with a federal judge refusing to punish the spy agency for its “transgressions.”

 

The tapes were destroyed in November 2005 under the orders of Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., the CIA’s former head of clandestine service. Rodriguez’s exposure to prosecution was limited by the fact the CIA lawyers approved his actions at the time. The destruction was carried out immediately after The Washington Post revealed the existence of CIA “black sites” where suspects were tortured.

 

Civil libertarians and government watchdog organizations sued the CIA after it refused to turn over records about the tapes’ destruction. The plaintiffs also requested the agency be held in contempt for destroying the recordings.

 

But Judge Alvin Hellerstein declined, saying to do so “would serve no beneficial purpose.”

 

Hellerstein said CIA officials have met their obligation by producing “records that describe the contents of the videotapes, corresponding in time to their creation, and records that relate to the videotapes’ destruction, in particular, the persons and reasons behind the destruction.” He added that Rodriguez and others who destroyed the tapes may not have been “aware of court orders requiring identification or production of the videotapes,” and that those CIA employees who responded to the Freedom of Information Act request for information of the destruction may “not have been aware of the videotapes’ existence before they were destroyed.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Judge Refuses to Sanction CIA for Destroying Torture Tapes (by David Kravets, Threat Level)

CIA Won't Face Sanction for Destroying Tapes (by Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service)

ACLU v. Department of Defense et al. (U.S. District Court, Southern New York) (pdf)

CIA Escapes Prosecution for Criminal Destruction of Torture Tapes (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)