Salt Pit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The "Salt Pit" is the codename of an isolated clandestine CIA prison, and interrogation centre in Afghanistan. It is located north of Kabul and functioned as a brick factory prior to the US invasion of Afghanistan. In the winter of 2005 the "Salt Pit" became known to the general public over two incidents.
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[edit] November 2002 death in custody
The "newly minted" CIA case officer in charge of this prison directed the Afghan guards to strip a suspect naked, and chain him to the floor of his unheated cell, and leave him overnight.[1] In the morning the suspect was dead. A post-mortem examination determined that he froze to death, although some journalists question the results of this autopsy.[2]
The suspect was buried in an unmarked grave and his friends and family were never told of what happened to him.[3]
The CIA case officer in charge of the facility, described by colleagues as "bright and eager", has since been promoted, according to the Washington Post.[4]
[edit] The false imprisonment of Khalid El-Masri
Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen, was kidnapped from Macedonia and rendered to Afghanistan. El-Masri shared the same name as a suspect on the US's terrorist watchlist, and this triggered the suspicion of Macedonian authorities that he might be traveling on a forged passport.
A team of American security officials were dispatched to Macedonia, where they took custody of El-Masri without regard to his legal rights under Macedonian law. It took over two months for the CIA official who ordered his arrest to take the step of verifying whether El-Masri's passport was legitimate. El-Masri described being beaten and injected with drugs as part of his interrogation.
On Thursday, May 18, 2006 U.S. Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis, III in Washington dismissed a lawsuit El-Masri filed against the CIA and three private companies allegedly involved with his transport, explaining that a public trial would "present a grave risk of injury to national security." [6]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment: Afghan's Death Took Two Years to Come to Light; Agency Says Abuse Claims Are Probed Fully Washington Post March 3, 2005
- CIA accused of detaining innocent man: If the agency knew he was the wrong man, why was he held? MSNBC April 21, 2005.
- The Hunt for Hercules N8183J, Der Spiegel, November 28, 2005
- GlobalSecurity.org satellite imagery of "The Salt Pit."
- ^ Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake: German Citizen Released After Months in 'Rendition', Washington Post, December 4, 2005
