This is why single accounts aren't taken as gospel, because even at their best, they're not going to be entirely accurate. It's only when you're comparing many different sources who didn't know or contact each other that a pattern emerges. When survivors and guards, and all manner of witnesses all report the same details, those are the details you can have higher confidence in.
Of course, torturers aren't stupid... they've known for a long time that they might end up on the wrong side of a tribunal, or worse. These days you don't get names, you often stay black-bagged and bound, but people still remember voices, they see flashes during moments of struggle or when being "submarined". People remember smells and sensations that meant nothing to them, but which an experienced investigator is trained to recognize.
I'd recommend the book 'Torture and Democracy' to anyone interested in the topic, from any angle at all.