Walling is a method of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

used by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

in which a person's neck is encircled by a collar, and is then used to slam the person against a wall. According to information gathered by the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

from six detainees, "walling" meant "beating by use of a collar", in at least one instance against a concrete wall. Prompted to explain their interrogation techniques to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

in 2005, the CIA provided a series of memos to the department's

Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that supports the attorney general in their role as legal adviser to the president and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the atto ...

, one of which described "walling". The memo states that walling "involves the use of a flexible, false wall ... the interrogator pulls the individual forward and then quickly and firmly pushes the individual into the wall. It is the individual's shoulder blades that hit the wall. During this motion, the head and neck are supported with a rolled hood or towel".

Steven G. Bradbury Steven Gill Bradbury (born September 12, 1958) is an American lawyer and government official serving as the 14th United States deputy secretary of transportation since 2025. He served as the General Counsel of the United States Department of Tra ...

, a Principal Deputy Assistant

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

during the Bush administration, said that walling "involves what may be characterized as rough handling". According to a report by the CIA Inspector General,

Ammar al-Baluchi Ammar al-Baluchi or Amar Baloch; born Ali Abdul Aziz Ali on 29 August 1977) is a Pakistani citizen who has been in American custody at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp since 2006. He was arrested in the Pakistani former capital city of Karachi ...

suffered brain damage after being used as a "training prop" for interrogators.

References

{{Reflist Torture in the United States