Red Cross report describes "torture" at CIA jails

Many of the details of alleged mistreatment had been reported previously, but the ICRC report is the most authoritative account and the first to use the word "torture" in a legal context, The Washington Post said.

The CIA declined to comment, the newspaper said. It quoted as U.S. official familiar with the ICRC document as saying: "It is important to bear in mind that the report lays out claims made by the terrorists themselves." The CIA could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged the use of coercive interrogation tactics on senior al-Qaeda captives detained by the CIA in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Bush certified in 2007 that the CIA's interrogation program complied with the Geneva Conventions.

The anti-terrorism policies of the Bush administration drew worldwide condemnation as violations of human rights and international law.

(Editing by Eric Beech)