San Juan, January 23 (RHC)-- At the U.S.-occupied Guantanamo Naval Base, a psychologist identified as the “architect” of the CIA’s torture program testified for the first time to the war court at Guantánamo Bay.

James Mitchell was in the courtroom for a pretrial hearing for five 9/11 suspects who had been subject to torture, euphemistically called “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

Mitchell and his partner, Dr. Bruce Jessen, were paid $81 million to help design the CIA’s torture methods, including some of the most abusive tactics.  The pair had no prior experience in interrogation.  In 2014, James Mitchell confirmed he personally waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.