There are many CIA secret prisons out there, known as “Black Sites” and many are still
unknown to the public to this day.
Here are some of the worst and most shocking secret CIA prisons in the world.
Number 5 – Detention Site Green, Thailand
Thailand has denied the existence of any secret prisons, however several leaked reports over
the years have suggested the location of Detention Site Green being somewhere near the province
of Udon Thani or just outside of the capital, Bangkok.
Even the CIA themselves admitted to destroying 92 tapes of interviews of terror suspects
that had been safeguarded somewhere in Thailand.
One of the detainees of Detention Site Green was that of Saudi Arabian national, Abu Zubaydah
and it is believed that he lost his left eye as a result of extensive interrogations involving
torture conducted by the CIA.
During his time in CIA custody, Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times, so severely to the
point of bubbles rising from his open mouth or vomiting and blacking out.
Aside from this, Zubaydah was also subjected to forced nudity, sleep deprivation and physical
assaults.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, one of al-Qaida’s “most skilled” co-ordinators and mastermind
behind the bombing of the USS Cole was also subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques
at Detention Site Green, similar to that of Zubaydah including waterboarding in addition
to being threatened with sodomy.
Site Green was shut down in late 2002 and both Zubaydah and Nashiri were transferred
to Poland.
Number 4 – Antaviliai, Lithuania
What may have seemed like a normal looking building was actually far from that.
This very property, 15 miles outside the capital, Vilnius, was believed to have been a CIA Black
Site, used to interrogate Al-Qaeda suspects who had been captured in Afghanistan.
It was windowless at the time and surrounded by a metal fence and security cameras.
According to human rights activist, John Sifton, the activities in the prison were illegal,
which included various forms of torture, such as sleep deprivation, forced standing and
painful stress positions.
The site at Antaviliai was operational for over a year and during that time, it held
at least eight suspected terrorists within its walls.
As of now, the site is being used to train Lithuania’s state security service.
Number 3 – Temara Interrogation Centre, Morocco
Temara Interrogation Centre, also known as Temara Secret Detention Centre, is a secret
prison facility, located in a forest 9 miles from the capital, Rabat.
The facility has come under heavy scrutiny by non-governmental organisations such as
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for their recurrent and flagrant violation
of Human Rights.
Detainees had repeatedly been beaten, sexually abused and sleep deprived.
Other reported methods of torture include the suspension of the body in contorted positions,
cigarette burns, electrocution and even rape by the forced insertion objects such as bottles
into the anus.
I can see why Amnesty have denounced the place!
The first known detainee was Mohammed Mossadegh Benkhadra in 1985 and since then others such
as Ramzi Binalshibh, an accused plotter of the 9/11 attacks have been interrogated at
Temara.
To this day, Temara is still active and in operation.
Number 2 – Quartz, Poland
Quartz is the code name for a secret CIA interrogation facility in a northern Polish forest near
the village of Stare Kiejkuty.
It served as a Nazi SS output during World War II and currently now serves a facility
to question alleged Al-Qaeda operatives.
A BBC report had stated that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, architect of the 9/11 attacks, was
detained and interrogated in Quartz.
He was subjected to frequent waterboarding, 183 times in fact, which caused near drowning,
convulsions, vomiting and black-outs.
Beside from waterboarding, mock executions take place and detainees are treated as prisoners
of war; beaten and forced to endure painful stress positions.
The torture techniques were so extreme that it led to the firing of two top CIA officials.
Number 1 – The Salt Pit, Afghanistan
The Salt Pit, also known by the code name “Cobalt” is an isolated CIA Black Site
prison located in the north of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
The CIA authorised more than $200,000 for its construction back in June 2002.
Prisoners at The Salt Pit are kept in total darkness and isolation and fed poorly with
some even fed rectally.
Moreover, detainees are hosed down while shackled with their hands above their heads naked,
humiliated and subject to sleep deprivation.
To make matters worse, prisoners are left cold with insufficient heat and have only
a bucket for human waste.
Loud music is reported to play constantly too.
The first detainee at The Salt Pit in 2002 was identified by the CIA as Osama Bin Laden’s
former bodyguard, Ridha al-Najjar who was described as “a broken man” after his
experiences at the prison.
Najjar was kept shackled and hooded, suspended with his wrists handcuffed to an overhead
bar that would not allow him to lower his arms.
Najjar was also left cold and fed poor quality food and was even forced to wear a nappy having
no access to toilet facilities.
In an article, The Salt Pit was described as “the CIA’s Sadistic Dungeon” as Gul
Rahman, an alleged Afghan militant, died during his stay there from freezing to death.
He was buried in an unmarked grave and his friends and family were never told of what
happened to him.
No CIA officers were charged with the crimes relating to Rahman’s death and instead it
was quite the opposite.
The CIA officer who ordered Rahman be chained up was given a $2,500 bonus for “consistently
superior work.”