Activists: U.S. used waterboarding more than it admits

(AP) CAIRO — Human Rights Watch says it has uncovered evidence of a wider use of waterboarding in American interrogations of detainees than has been acknowledged by the United States.

The group's report details further brutal treatment at secret CIA-run prisons under the Bush administration-era U.S. program of detention and rendition of terror suspects.

The report also includes information about Washington's close cooperation with the regime of Libya's former dictator Muammar Qaddafi in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

The U.S. handed over to Libya the Islamist opponents of Qaddafi who it detained abroad with only thin "diplomatic assurances" that they would not be mistreated. Human Rights Watch says several of them were subsequently tortured in prison.

The report comes days after the Justice Department announced it would not bring criminal charges against any CIA personnel over severe interrogation methods used in the detention and rendition program.