# *The human rights guy* > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "*The human rights guy*," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-human-rights-guy/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The nickname John Kiriakou says colleagues at the CIA used for him behind his back after he refused to be trained in the enhanced interrogation program and reported another officer for hooding prisoners at the Abu Zubaydah takedown safe house. He learned it from a friend, an Army Reserve brigadier general and psychiatrist named Steve, who framed it as a warning, and Kiriakou answered *"I'm not afraid of them. I'm right and they're wrong."** - **Who used it:** CIA colleagues, *"behind your back"* - **Told to Kiriakou by:** Steve, a friend and CIA colleague who was also a psychiatrist and Army Reserve brigadier general - **Steve's warning:** *"You know that's not a compliment"* - **Kiriakou's answer:** *"Steve, I'm not afraid of them. I'm right and they're wrong"* - **Origin:** The Abu Zubaydah takedown safe house, Kiriakou reported another officer for hooding prisoners, was himself reprimanded, and *"realized then, okay, this is how they want to play it"* **"The human rights guy"** is the nickname [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says CIA colleagues used behind his back for the officer who kept turning up on the side of the [Geneva Convention](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/geneva-convention). It was told to him, inside the agency, as a warning, and he treats it now as evidence that the internal drift had already gone further than most Americans understood. ## The origin Kiriakou dates the nickname to the [Abu Zubaydah](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abu-zubaydah) takedown, when captured al-Qaeda fighters, dozens of them, arriving in shifts of ten, were being processed at a CIA safe house. He asked why they had hoods on. *"And he said, 'I don't want them to see our faces.' I said, 'Are you seriously telling me that you have never read the Geneva Convention? You cannot put hoods on them. That is a war crime.' … And he says, 'Wait. If you take the hoods off, I'm reporting you to headquarters.' I said, 'Oh, I'm already reporting you to headquarters. You've committed a war crime and we have to report it to Congress.'"*[1][2] The internal ruling ran against him. *"He took the hoods off, and we reported each other to headquarters and I got reprimanded."* Cheney had already declared the detainees non-state combatants; no court had endorsed that ruling, but no court had blocked it either. *"I realized then, like, okay, this is how they want to play it."*[2][3] ## Steve The friend who told him what colleagues were calling him was named Steve, *"the consummate overachiever. We worked together at the CIA, plus he was a Brigadier General in the Army Reserve and a psychiatrist."* Steve's phrasing was direct: *"Hey, buddy, you know they call you the the human rights guy behind your back."*[4][5] Kiriakou: *"Yeah, I know."* Steve: *"You know that's not a compliment."* Kiriakou: *"Steve, I'm not afraid of them. I'm right and they're wrong."*[5][6] ## See also - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) - [Enhanced interrogation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/enhanced-interrogation) - [Geneva Convention](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/geneva-convention) - [Abu Zubaydah](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abu-zubaydah) ## Sources 1. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou on accountability and CIA’s history | UpFront (2026-08-02), at 08:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcdQYoQW8e4&t=536s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-02-al-jazeera-english-cia-whistleblower-on-accountability-and-cia-s-history/ 2. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou on accountability and CIA’s history | UpFront (2026-08-02), at 09:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcdQYoQW8e4&t=567s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-02-al-jazeera-english-cia-whistleblower-on-accountability-and-cia-s-history/ 3. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou on accountability and CIA’s history | UpFront (2026-08-02), at 09:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcdQYoQW8e4&t=599s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-02-al-jazeera-english-cia-whistleblower-on-accountability-and-cia-s-history/ 4. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou on accountability and CIA’s history | UpFront (2026-08-02), at 10:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcdQYoQW8e4&t=630s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-02-al-jazeera-english-cia-whistleblower-on-accountability-and-cia-s-history/ 5. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou on accountability and CIA’s history | UpFront (2026-08-02), at 11:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcdQYoQW8e4&t=660s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-02-al-jazeera-english-cia-whistleblower-on-accountability-and-cia-s-history/ 6. CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou on accountability and CIA’s history | UpFront (2026-08-02), at 11:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcdQYoQW8e4&t=690s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-02-al-jazeera-english-cia-whistleblower-on-accountability-and-cia-s-history/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-human-rights-guy/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt