In December, a Polish ex-president admitted that Poland had hosted a secret interrogation
prison for the CIA in the early 2000s.
Such locations are commonly called “black sites”, and are best known as terrorist
holding cells located in countries without strict anti-torture laws.
So what exactly is a black site?
Well, in the week following 9/11, President George W. Bush issued a classified memo to
the National Security Council.
It allowed the CIA to set up secret foreign prisons for purposes of detainment and [quote]
“enhanced interrogation”.
Five years later, Bush finally acknowledged the existence of such sites.
And then in 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report investigating
the torture methods carried out by the CIA during the Bush administration.
The Torture Report found that the first black site was opened in 2001 and held multiple
terrorism suspects, including top al-Qaida operatives.
At least 53 countries were involved in the CIA’s torture program and some of them,
like Thailand, Poland and Lithuania, were hosts to black sites.
One infamous black site was located in Afghanistan, and was known as the Salt Pit or the Dark
Prison.
The Torture Report revealed that prisoners were kept in total darkness at all times,
given a bucket to use for waste, and in at least one case, left in a cold cell to freeze
to death.
To learn more about the Torture Report, check out Trace’s explanation.
Despite harsh, and potentially unlawful conditions, in 2006, the Bush Administration maintained
that the detention of “illegal combatants” in foreign black sites is the US’ “right
under the laws of war.”
President Bush also maintained, in a historical sound bite:
“the United States does not torture.”
Considering the recently released torture report, it would appear that this was not
true.
In 2003, the CIA kidnapped German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, while he was on vacation.
For the next four months, El-Masri was interrogated, beaten, tortured and even sodomized during
his imprisonment in Afghanistan’s Salt Pit.
Eventually the CIA realized that he was not the Al Qaeda suspect they were looking for,
and the then National Security Advisor ordered his release.
El-Masri went on to sue a number of government bodies he claimed were responsible for his
detainment.
All US courts, including the Supreme Court, refused to hear his case.
In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights found the CIA to be in violation of international
law and awarded El-Masri 60,000 Euros as compensation.
Two years later, the U.S. acknowledged in the Torture Report that El-Masri was one of
26 people mistakenly detained.
Despite President Barack Obama’s 2009 reversal on torture and unlawful extradition, black
sites are reportedly still in use around the world.
If you’re full of curiosity about the world, you’ll be excited to hear that we’ve launched
a brand new daily show called Seeker.
It’s all about finding the unique perspectives and inspiring stories that make us ask questions
that really matter.
Take a look at this recent video I made that questions if there are ever times censorship
can be a good thing.
Click the link in the description if you want to see more, and please don’t forget to
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