Muhammad Atar is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a documented victim of the Central Intelligence Agency’s walling interrogation technique. He was subjected to the technique against a concrete-block wall, without the protective rolled towel or fiberboard surface that the technique’s designers (Mitchell and Jessen) had specified. The result is permanent, lifelong brain damage.[1]
Injury
Muhammad Atar, the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was slammed so mercilessly against the wall that he’s now brain damaged to the point where he can’t participate in his own defense. They gave him permanent lifelong brain damage. Where does it say you were authorized to do that?[1][2]
The variant of walling administered to Atar departed from the formally designed technique in two specific ways:
- The wall was constructed of concrete blocks, not the plywood or fiberboard surface specified in the design
- No towel was placed around his neck as a brace[1]
Legal status
Atar’s brain damage is sufficient that he cannot participate in his own defense at trial. No CIA officer has been criminally prosecuted in connection with the injury.[3]