World reacts to U.S. torture report

The Senate Intelligence Committee report into the CIA’s brutal interrogation tactics against detainees captured after the September 11, 2001, attacks is drawing mostly criticism from around the world.

While the initial overseas reaction from both United States’ allies as well as its enemies was largely muted, the revelations of the intelligence agency’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the post-9/11 era have been widely condemned.

The report found CIA tactics were more brutal than previously known and accused the agency of keeping the Bush White House and Congress in the dark.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the “inhumane actions” outlined in the report and told reporters in Kabul Wednesday that the document “unfortunately shows that our Afghan compatriots had been tortured.” It was “really painful” that some torture victims were innocent, he said. “All Afghan people should know that after 2014 no international forces would be allowed to put any Afghan citizen in jail, get into their homes or have prisons,” he said.

China

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters Wednesday: “China consistently opposes torture. We believe that the U.S. side should reflect upon and rectify its relevant behavior, earnestly obey and implement the provisions of international conventions.”

In a commentary published by the state-run Xinhua news agency, China blasted what it said was “the sheer hypocrisy of the United States as a defender of human rights.” The commentary said Guantanamo Bay was “notorious for human rights violations since 2004,” adding that neither President George W. Bush nor President Barrack Obama “has done anything to change the situation.”

“To simply look through the details of water boarding, deprivation of sleep and sexual abuses in the report can constitute a traumatizing experience,” Wang Shang said in the commentary.

Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the information made public from the report “is another confirmation of gross systematic violations of human rights by the American authorities.”

“We urge the human rights community and relevant international organizations to demand from Washington a disclosure of full information of offenses committed within the framework of the ‘global war with terror’ and to bring perpetrators to justice,” the ministry said in a statement.

GreatBritain

Prime Minster David Cameron condemned torture while in Turkey on Tuesday, saying: “Torture is wrong. Torture is always wrong. Those of us want to see a safer, more secure world, want to see the extremism defeated. We won’t succeed if we lose our moral authority.”

Iran

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded to the report in a series of tweets, saying of the U.S.: “They claim they’ve a prideful nation; US govts. debased & misguided their ppl who aren’t aware of many realities.”

He wrote in another tweet:

France

The Foreign Ministry said that, when it comes to the fight against terrorism, “the main objective of the international community must stay within the framework of respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.”

Germany

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on his verified Twitter account that the report findings pointed to “clear violations of democratic values”. “This cannot be repeated,” he added. “President Obama clearly breaks with the politics of his predecessor. We welcome this new transparency to admit mistakes … What was considered right in fight against Islamic terrorism was unacceptable+a serious mistake.”

Pakistan

“We deplore the systematic torture of the detainees at various locations by the CIA,” said Tasnim Aslam, a spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. Aslam said that the report “reinforces what we have said all along – that the international human rights and the international humanitarian law must be respected when encountering intelligence terrorism.”

“We have also emphasized the need for transparency,” Aslam told reporters. “We have noted the reassurances held out by the U.S. administration, including at the highest levels, that this behavior would never be repeated again.”

North Korea

North Korea referred to the report in an article published by the state news agency KCNA, which accused the United Nations Security Council of a double standard for “turning its face from the inhuman torture practiced by the CIA over which the UN Anti-Torture Committee expressed particular concern and which is dealt with in the 6,000 page-long report presented by the Intelligence Committee of the U.S. Senate.”

Poland

Former President Aleksander Kwasniewski said the report findings further “the feeling that the USA is becoming weaker, especially in Moscow, where for many years now there is an opinion to ‘test’ the west as America is weak.”

“I think that this report is something that the Kremlin will receive as an unexpected Christmas present,” he said. “We had every right to believe that they would conduct activities in accordance to law, American law, which is not more liberal than Polish law or international law … Another lesson from this report is, that trust even in your closest ally must be limited.”

United Nations

U.N. Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights Ben Emmerson called on the U.S. to prosecute those responsible for crimes outlined in the report. Emmerson said the program was “a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administration, which allowed … systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law.”

CNN’s Anna Maja Rappard and Sophia Saifi, Elena Sandyrev and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.