Judge won't dismiss lawsuit on harsh interrogation

The suit said that the psychologists, despite having no expertise on al-Qaida, devised an interrogation program for the CIA that drew from 1960s experiments involving dogs and a theory called "learned helplessness."

The lawsuit accused the two former Air Force psychologists, who worked as independent contractors for the CIA, of endorsing and teaching torture tactics under the guise of science.

Torture methods they devised included slamming prisoners into walls, stuffing them inside coffin-like boxes, exposing them to extreme temperatures and ear-splitting levels of music, starving them, inflicting various kinds of water torture, depriving them of sleep for days, and chaining them in stress positions designed for pain, the ACLU has said.

According to the Senate report, the government paid the company $81 million over several years

The plaintiffs are suing under the Alien Tort Statute — which allows federal lawsuits for gross human rights violations — for their commission of torture; cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; non-consensual human experimentation; and war crimes.