The CIA Vault: the Black Site World Tour!
How deep did this rabbit hole go?
Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition. Open Society Justice Initiative. 2013.
Previously in the CIA vault, we’ve spoken about 2 of the most famous black sites: Abu Ghraib and GITMO. To recap, black sites are secret prisons that the US government used to detain people suspected of terrorism or other crimes. The conditions in these sites were often horrific, with prisoners being tortured and abused regularly. The existence of such locations dealt a major blow to the legal and moral legitimacy of American foreign policy. Here are a few more times the CIA got caught running black sites.
Down the rabbit hole
Romania
"Bright Light", a black site located in a secluded forest near Bucharest, Romania. The Romanian government denied the site’s existence. The CIA paid off the Romanian government with millions of dollars to keep its existence quiet.
Lithuania
The CIA got caught in Lithuania operating “Detention Site Violet”. This black site was built in 2004 in Antaviliai, a neighborhood in Vilnius. The property featured a steel barn and windowless, soundproofed rooms.
Poland
“Quartz”, a black site hidden near Stare Kiejkuty, a sleepy village in the middle of nowhere. The Polish government had previously denied knowledge of the prison's existence. It was revealed that the CIA paid the Polish government $15 million to use the site.
To say that there was no attempt at justice would be incorrect. Both Romania and Lithuania were found guilty of violating the European ban on torture for hosting CIA black sites. Poland was also found guilty of violating human rights.
And on, and on, and on…
Countries that held prisoners in behalf of the U.S. based on published data are Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Libya, Lithuania, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Somalia, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zambia. Some of the above-named countries held suspects in behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA); others held suspects in behalf the U.S. military, or both.
More Than Two-Dozen Countries Complicit In US Torture Program. Sherwood Ross. The Public Record. April 2010.
This was a multi-year international campaign. Luckily, some changes were made in the aftermath of these revelations. President Bush, under immense pressure from human rights groups, passed an executive order to put the CIA back in line with the Geneva Conventions. Congress put stricter limits on the CIA’s torture too.
Tune in next time for more. Thanks for reading.