CIA torture report video: The 'damning indictment' of the intelligence agency's 'brutal' interrogations

Senate Investigation Committee report examined the 'shocking' treatment of 119 CIA prisoners post-9/11

Committee chair Dianne Feinstein faces questions from the press (AFP)

A US Senate report has exposed the shocking abuses suffered at the hands of the CIA’s prisoners in the aftermath of 9/11 – but what are the key facts you need to know?

The 500-page summary from the Senate Intelligence Committee is a “damning indictment” of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) practises, detailing the use of waterboarding, physical abuse, isolation, and threat of death and sexual violence.

Committee chair Dianne Feinstein has condemned the actions of the CIA, claiming that the intelligence service consistently lied to the American people, government authorities – and crucially the report "never found an example" of an instance that had saved a single life.

Ms Feinstein said: “The CIA programme was far more brutal than people were led to believe,” and described the report as a “stain” on the nation’s character. She added: "under any common meaning of the term, CIA detainees were tortured."

The graphic investigation details the inhumane and barbaric treatment of at least 119 prisoners in “black sites” around the world following al-Qaeda’s attack on the Twin Towers in September, 2001, under the presidency George W Bush.

President Barack Obama has condemned the findings of the full 6700-page report, some of which remains classified, pronouncing such methods “wrong”, “brutal” and vowing they would not take place under his watch.

However, the committee’s findings have been attacked by former CIA members and some Republicans, who view it as a hatchet job on the US intelligence community.

Individuals such as former CIA Director George Tenet, a strong advocate of “enhanced interrogation techniques”, has claimed that these measures – which he refuses to acknowledge as torture – are crucial tools for counter-terrorism agencies.

Analyst have also attacked the timing of the report’s release, claiming current events in the Middle East made such a decision irresponsible - and labelling the release a political move ahead of the Senate’s return to Republican hands.

US embassies and military bases tightened security around the world last night as online chatter, monitored by Site Intelligence Group, reported many known Islamic jihadis calling for “revenge”.