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CNA news : Businessman in court claims police brutality SINGAPORE: A businessman charged with receiving S$1.4 million in stolen electronic goods alleged in court on Monday that he was tortured by the police for four hours. Ong Su Ping, 33, claimed he was forced to drink urine and had a toilet brush placed in his mouth. He also alleged that used underwear was placed on his head and he was assaulted on his private parts. In response to media queries about the allegations, a police spokesperson said it takes "a serious view" of all complaints made by accused persons against officers and will investigate all such complaints thoroughly. The spokesperson added: "The allegations made by Ong Su Ping are currently being investigated by the Internal Affairs Office, a department formed in August 2011 to conduct independent investigations into complaints and offences involving SPF's officers. If criminal offences are disclosed, the Police would not hesitate to bring criminal charges against the errant officer. On a related note, the Police warns that if the allegations are found to be false, appropriate actions in accordance with our laws will be taken against any persons who furnish false information to the Police, which is an offence under Sec 182 of the Penal Code Cap 224." The offence is punishable with a maximum jail term of one year, or with a fine of up to S$5,000, or both. "As the case involving the accused (Ong) is currently before the Courts, it is inappropriate to comment further at this juncture," the police spokesperson said. Ong and Lee Peng Chou, a freelance courier, are said to have been given the stash, including 1,930 Apple iPads and 1,464 iPhones, which had been stolen from the Dnata cargo terminal in Changi Airfreight Centre. They were arrested by airport police on October 2. More than 2,000 pieces of the stolen devices are believed to have already been shipped out of the country. The two men face one count each of dishonestly receiving stolen property, and another of assisting in the disposal of the stolen items. They will be back in court on October 17. - TODAY I will never buy his story of police brutality unless he has a mouth of a hippopotamus ......... 'toilet brush' placed in his mouth .... Doubt the investigating officer would want to risk his job for this.....

CIA employed interrogation techniques "far worse and brutal" than it admitted, investigation reveals. A US Senate report on harsh techniques employed to interrogate "terror" suspects post-9/11 attacks has condemned the CIA for brutality and deception. The heavily redacted 480-page report - published on Tuesday - covered the treatment of around 100 suspects rounded up by US operatives between 2001 and 2009 on terrorism charges. The full 6,200-page report remains classified. Ahead of the publication of the report, the US had tightened security at its embassies across the globe. Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein said the techniques used by the CIA were "far more brutal than people were led to believe" and that "coercive techniques regularly resulted in fabricated information" from detainees. "There are those who will seize upon the report and say see what the Americans did? And they will try to use it to justify evil actions or incite more violence," said Feinstein. "We can't prevent that, but history will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say never again." The report said harsh CIA interrogations produced much bad information, including a fake story about al-Qaeda recruiting African-Americans. It said the interrogations were ineffective and never produced information that led to foiling of "imminent terror threat". The report followed a five-year investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee into the programme. The CIA maintained the harsh techniques were effective and foiled terrorist plots. The report said the CIA misled the public and policymakers about the programme, much of which was developed, operated and assessed by two outside contractors. Threats and sleep deprivation The tactics discussed in the document include threats that Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, would have his mother "brought before him and sexually abused." He was also threatened with a power drill. The report said some detainees were forced to stay awake for over a week at a time, and that several detainees suffered from "hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation." Reacting to the report, US President Barack Obama said the CIA actions "were contrary to our values". "I hope that today’s report can help us leave these techniques where they belong - in the past. Today is also a reminder that upholding the values we profess doesn’t make us weaker, it makes us stronger and that the United States of America will remain the greatest force for freedom and human dignity that the world has ever known," he said in a statement. The enhanced interrogation programme was dismantled by Obama in 2009. Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from outside the White House in Washington DC, said the aim of the report was to guarantee that torture was never used again in any sort of covert programme. "But it is not exactly clear why the Senate has that confidence. Remember, no one was prosecuted for the programme," said Culhane. Another Al Jazeera correspondent, Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Capitol Hill in Washington DC, said it was unclear what Congress would do next. "It is hard to say what Congress will do, because Congress had plenty of opportunities to do something and yet did not," said Halkett. Amnesty International said the report makes clear that the CIA was acting unlawfully "from day one" and its brutal interrogations were not a rogue operation. Steven Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty's US branch, said the programme "gave the green light to commit the crimes under international law of torture and enforced disappearance -- with impunity. It's time for accountability, including a full investigation, prosecutions and remedy for victims." Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said the report "shows the repeated claims that harsh measures were needed to protect Americans are fiction." He noted that the Obama administration had ended many of the practices described in graphic detail in the report. But Roth added: "Unless this important truth-telling process leads to prosecution of the officials responsible, torture will remain a 'policy option' for future presidents." CIA TECHNIQUES Water boarding (simulated drowning) Sleep deprivation Confinement in small places Slapping detainees Threatening with death Unnecessary "rectal feeding" or "rectal hydration" http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/12/us-releases-cia-torture-report-2014129122456718264.html Source: Al Jazeera and agencies