CIA Torture Report: Obama says some methods were 'brutal, wrong, and counterproductive'

President Barack Obama has admitted some of the torture techniques used by CIA officials on terror suspects, detailed in a Senate report, were "brutal, wrong, and counterproductive".

Obama said: "One of the things that sets us apart from other countries is that when we make mistakes, we admit them."

The Senate Intelligence Committee's 525-page report details a range of extreme interrogation methods used by the CIA to extract information from terror suspects in the wake of 9/11.

In a television interview with the Spanish-language television network Telemundo, the US President said: "We did some things that violated who we are as a people."

The report has opened a can of worms for Washington where Republicans question the timing of the release by the Democrat-controlled committee. However, Obama defended the release, saying there is never a "perfect time" to declassify these events.

He continued: "It was important for us to release this so that we can account for it ... and hopefully make sure that we don't make those mistakes again.

"What's clear is that the CIA set up something very fast without a lot of forethought to what the ramifications might be.... Some of these techniques that were described were not only wrong, but also counterproductive because we know that often times when somebody is being subjected to these kinds of techniques, that they're willing to say anything in order to alleviate the pain and the stress."

Obama went on to say that no such brutal practices were undertaken by the agency during his administration and if there are any such violations, those responsible would be held to account.