(New York Times) A federal court judge refused on Friday to drop a lawsuit against two psychologists who helped devise the C.I.A.’s interrogation program after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, clearing the way for the case to proceed to a trial in September.
The suit is one of the few attempts to hold people accountable for harm caused by the Central Intelligence Agency’s program in the years after the 2001 attacks.
The three plaintiffs had argued that they were detained and tortured in secret C.I.A. prisons using techniques designed by the two former military psychologists, who served as C.I.A. contractors. Most of the techniques used against the detainees have since been banned by the United States government.
At a hearing in United States District Court in Spokane, Wash., Judge Justin L. Quackenbush said he would deny motions by both sides to rule summarily in their favor in advance of a trial. However, he said he would issue a written ruling as to whether the case could go forward on behalf of two of the plaintiffs, who never came into contact with the defendants.