WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A Bush administration official has publicly described a detainee 's treatment at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , as torture , according to a published report . The detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , has been a source of controversy . Susan Crawford , the retired judge in charge of determining which Guantanamo detainees should be tried by a U.S. military commision , has refused to refer the case of Mohammed al-Qahtani to prosecutors because of that assessment , The Washington Post reported Wednesday . `` We tortured ( Mohammed al- ) Qahtani , '' Crawford told the Post . `` His treatment met the legal definition of torture . And that 's why I did not refer the case '' for prosecution . Military prosecutors have accused al-Qahtani of helping to plan the September 11 , 2001 , terror attacks , and believe he may have sought to participate , possibly as the `` 20th hijacker . '' The United States had been seeking the death penalty against al-Qahtani and five other men in connection with the 9/11 attacks . Crawford approved charges against the other five . She told the newspaper she came to her decision based on the combination of the interrogation techniques , their duration and the effect on al-Qahtani 's health . `` The techniques they used were all authorized , but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent , '' she said . `` You think of torture , you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual . This was not any one particular act ; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him , that hurt his health . It was abusive and uncalled for . And coercive . Clearly coercive . It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge '' to call it torture , she told the paper . When asked later Wednesday about the report , White House Press Secretary Dana Perino responded , `` It has never been the policy of this president or this administration to torture . `` Because of command influence concerns , I have not commented about individual cases from this podium and ... that 's as much as I can say about it . '' Pressed further on the issue , Perino said , `` The commander-in-chief should not be commenting on cases where the government is bringing a case against a detainee . It would be inappropriate to do so from the White House . '' The Department of Defense issued a statement Wednesday defending the military treatment of al-Qahtani . `` We have conducted more than a dozen investigations and reviews of our detention operations , including specifically the interrogation of al-Qahtani , the alleged 20th hijacker . `` The investigations concluded the interrogation methods used at Gitmo ( Guantanamo ) , including the special interrogation techniques used with Qahtani in 2002 , were lawful . `` However , subsequent to those reviews , the department adopted new and more restrictive policies , and improved oversight procedures for interrogation and detention operations . `` Some of the aggressive questioning techniques used on al-Qahtani , although permissible at the time , are no longer allowed in the updated Army field manual . '' In November , military prosecutors said they would try to refile charges against al-Qahtani based on later interrogations that did not use harsh techniques , the paper reported . Crawford , who dismissed war crimes charges against al-Qahtani in May 2008 , said she wo n't let the prosecutors pursue other charges . His interrogation took place over 50 days -- from November 2002 to January 2003 , and he was held in isolation until April 2003 , she said . `` For 160 days , his only contact was with the interrogators , '' she said . Crawford , who studied interrogation and other military records , said al-Qahtani was forced to stand naked in front of a female agent , threatened with a military dog named Zeus , `` forced to wear a woman 's bra and had a thong placed on his head '' during questioning , and `` was told that his mother and sister were whores , '' the newspaper reported . Al-Qahtani , a Saudi national , was denied entry to the United States by an immigration officer in August 2001 , and later was captured in Afghanistan . In January 2002 he was sent to Guantanamo , where he has remained in custody as an enemy combatant . The agency said it is now focused on ensuring the proper treatment of detainees .
Retired judge refuses to refer case to prosecutors because of torture assessment . Susan Crawford describes techniques as `` overly aggressive and too persistent '' Military prosecutors accuse Mohammed al-Qahtani of helping plan 9/11 attacks . White House , Defense Department respond to Washington Post story .