Doc. 11302 Report 260. Notwithstanding the presence of video cameras inside the cells, masked prison guards regularly looked in and knocked on the door of the cell, demanding detainees to raise their hands to show that they are alive. 6.2.4. Mundane routines become unforgettable memories 261. Breakfast was delivered in the morning, followed by lunch in the early afternoon. The morning food was typically two or three triangles of cheese with no foil, two slices of tomato, some boiled potatoes, bread and olives. The afternoon food was typically boiled white rice with sliced luncheon meat. 262. On some special occasions, including certain religious holidays, special foods including cooked meat with sauce, nuts and dates, fresh fruit and vegetables, or pieces of chocolate were delivered to the cells. There was even provision for treats like unwrapped candy bars and dessert cakes. 263. Special routines developed around the delivery of food. The light bulb, which was always on, would be briefly turned off; the food would be delivered; and then the light bulb would be turned back on again. There was a hatch in the door of the cell for delivery of food but it was completely unpredictable whether the guards would use the hatch, or open the doors and bring the food in. 264. Detainees had a bucket for a toilet, which was about a foot deep and ten inches in diameter. 265. At times the electricity supply went dead. The music stopped and the light went out. For a brief period one could hear different voices shouting, some more distant than others but all incoherent. 6.2.5. Exertion of physical and psychological stress 266. There was a shackling ring in the wall of the cell, about half a metre up off the floor. Detainees’ hands and feet were clamped in handcuffs and leg irons. Bodies were regularly forced into contorted shapes and chained to this ring for long, painful periods. 267. Most persons in CIA custody attempted sooner or later to resist or protest their treatment and interrogation. Yet their efforts would largely be in vain. According to one source involved in CIA interrogation: “You know they are starting to crack when they come back at you; when they get really vocal or they try to challenge your authority. So you hold out … you push them over the edge.” 268. The sound most commonly heard in cells was a constant, low-level hum of white noise from loudspeakers. Other recollections speak of an external humming noise, like aircraft, engines or a generator. The constant noise was punctuated by blasts of loud Western music – rock music, rap music and thumping beats, or distorted verses from the Koran, or irritating noises – thunder, planes taking off, cackling laughter, the screams of women and children. 269. Detainees were subjected to relentless noise and disturbance and were deprived of the chance to sleep. 270. The torture music was turned on, or at least made much louder, as punishment for perceived infractions like raising one’s voice, calling out, or not waving quickly enough when guards demanded a response from you. 271. The gradual escalation of applied physical and psychological exertion, combined in some cases with more concentrated pressure periods for the purposes of interrogation, is said to have caused many of those held by the CIA to develop enduring psychiatric and mental problems. 7. Secrecy and cover-up: how the United States and its European partners evade responsibility for CIA clandestine operations 7.1. A case study of Khaled El-Masri 272. The circumstances of the abduction of German citizen Khaled El-Masri are exposed in some detail in my first report of June 2006.216216 At that time it had not been possible to determine the exact circumstances of Mr El-Masri’s return to Europe. 216. See Marty report, supra note 6, pp. 25-29. 53