First Image of CIA Black Site Detainee Reveals Dark Legacy

[Social Media]

 

 The man in the photograph is Ammar al-Baluchi, one of five men the US government has accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. Arrested in April 2003 in Karachi, Pakistan, Baluchi has been shuffled through a network of clandestine prisons, known as black sites, and has endured years of detention without a criminal conviction.

 

 

This photograph, shared by Baluchi’s legal team, is believed to have been taken in early 2004, when Baluchi was 26 years old. The stark image, showing him with a shorn head and a full beard, is a poignant reminder of the physical and psychological toll of his ordeal. Baluchi stands naked except for handcuffs shackling his wrists in a brightly lit, sterile room. His attorneys have added a black bar across his midsection to preserve his dignity.

 

 

Baluchi's journey through the shadowy world of black sites began with his arrest in Karachi. He was then secretly moved between five different black sites from May 2003 to September 2006 before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay, where he has been held ever since. Despite the gravity of the charges against him, Baluchi has never been convicted of any crime. The photograph is believed to have been taken at the CIA's black site in Bucharest, Romania, known both as Location No 7 and Detention Site Black in US government communications. In the image, Baluchi is likely being readied for transfer to another black site, highlighting the transient and uncertain nature of his captivity.

 

Between 2002 and 2008, at least 119 Muslim men were detained in secret CIA prisons worldwide. Of these, 39 were subjected to what the Bush administration euphemistically termed "enhanced interrogation techniques." In 2014, the US government, under President Barack Obama, admitted that these practices amounted to torture. “We tortured some folks,” Obama stated, marking a significant acknowledgment of the brutality that had been inflicted. Despite this admission, no one at the CIA has ever been held accountable for the torture inflicted upon these detainees.

 

The CIA took approximately 14,000 photographs documenting their black sites and the detainees held within them. The existence of these photographs was hidden from the public until 2015, and most remain classified. Defense attorneys representing Guantánamo detainees have been challenging the military court’s stringent classification system for years, gradually leading to the release of more formerly classified material, including this photograph.

 

Forced nudity was a common tactic employed by the CIA as an "enhanced interrogation technique" at the black sites. In Baluchi's case, his nakedness in the photograph is likely due to CIA transportation protocols rather than an interrogation method. According to a declassified CIA inspector general’s report, Baluchi was subjected to “standard rendition procedures” during his transfer to Romania from the Salt Pit, a secret prison in Afghanistan also known as Detention Site Cobalt. These procedures included a body cavity check and an examination by a medical officer, with CIA headquarters instructing field officers to document his physical condition with photographs. 

 

Baluchi’s most severe mistreatment occurred at the Salt Pit in Afghanistan, where he was subjected to a range of torturous practices. His head was repeatedly bounced off a wall in a technique referred to as “walling” by the government. Student interrogators seeking "official" job certification practiced this technique on him as if he were a training prop, keeping him naked for sessions that lasted up to two hours. Medical experts for the defense have since reported that the walling might have resulted in permanent traumatic brain injury. Baluchi was also deprived of sleep for up to 82 hours at a time, forced into stress positions, doused with ice-cold water, forcibly shaved, subjected to beatings, and deprived of food. His weight plummeted from 141 pounds to 119 pounds during his time at the Salt Pit.

 

The Romanian black site, located in the basement of the National Registry Office for Classified Information in Bucharest, represented a stark contrast to the conditions at the Salt Pit. The cells were prefabricated, painted white, and tiled with impact-resistant glass. The facility was described by CIA debriefers as clean, sterile, efficient, and modern, with an almost surreal feel. Despite these relatively improved conditions, detainees were still subjected to solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and physical manhandling. Baluchi described his time there as living in a refrigerator, constantly cold despite having some clothing and a blanket. 

 

The black sites, including the Romanian facility, were part of a broader network of secret prisons established by the CIA to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists. Romania, seeking entry into NATO at the time, cooperated with the CIA by hosting the site and was provided with millions of dollars in return. The conditions at these sites varied, but all were designed to disorient and dehumanize the detainees. At the Salt Pit, detainees were kept in complete darkness, constantly shackled in isolated cells, and subjected to loud noise or music. They were given only a bucket for human waste, and the facility was described by the chief of interrogations as a dungeon.

 

In contrast, the Romanian site was flooded with light 24 hours a day. Detainees were allowed to shower once a week, a rare luxury compared to other black sites. However, they remained extrajudicially held and incommunicado, unable to speak with anyone except their jailers. The CIA report quotes a debriefer who called the Romanian black site the nicest facility she had visited, a chilling testament to the inhumanity of the other sites. 

 

 

The photograph of Baluchi serves a specific bureaucratic purpose: to document his physical condition and to demonstrate that his body remains whole despite the torture he has endured. The CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” were designed to leave no lasting physical evidence on the body, as the Bush administration's notorious "torture memos" defined torture as permanent and serious physical damage that must rise to the level of death, organ failure, or the permanent impairment of a significant body function. 

 

This photograph, therefore, functions as visual proof of this discredited argument while illustrating the humiliating and submissive posture Baluchi is forced into in front of the camera. Dr. Vincent Iacopino, a physician specializing in the medical consequences of torture, has previously stated that such compulsory naked photography is both a form of sexual humiliation and sexual assault.

 

The release of this photograph is a significant development in the ongoing struggle for transparency and accountability in the US government’s handling of detainees during the War on Terror. It provides a rare glimpse into the secretive and brutal world of CIA black sites, highlighting the need for continued scrutiny and advocacy for the rights of those who have been subjected to torture and extrajudicial detention. The image of Ammar al-Baluchi stands as a stark reminder of the human cost of the War on Terror and the enduring legacy of the CIA’s black sites.

 

Credit: The Guardian  2024-08-06

 

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

 

Cigna offers a variety of health insurance plans designed to meet the minimum requirement for medical treatment coverage, with benefits reaching up to THB 3 million. These plans are tailored to provide comprehensive healthcare solutions for expatriates, ensuring peace of mind and access to quality medical services. To explore the full range of Cigna's expat health insurance options and find a plan that suits your needs, click here for more information.

[Tug]

If proven beyond all doubt they are responsible for 911 I’d be just fine with flogging them to death with each strike of the whip 5 minutes apart as to let them fully understand our rage 😡 sorry guys and gals I’m usually a mellow guy but these nutters bring the rage out in me!

[freeworld]

5 hours ago, Tug said:

If proven beyond all doubt they are responsible for 911 I’d be just fine with flogging them to death with each strike of the whip 5 minutes apart as to let them fully understand our rage 😡 sorry guys and gals I’m usually a mellow guy but these nutters bring the rage out in me!

Mellow, thats a laugh while quoting rage and inhuman punishment.

 

Maybe one needs therapy to deal with hidden suppressed feelings.

Edited August 6 by freeworld

[Tug]

1 minute ago, freeworld said:

Mellow, thats a laugh while quoting rage and inhuman punishment.

Yea folks hijacking airliners full of travelers and crashing them into buildings full of people tends to make me angry.

[Emdog]

I wonder if his tour of black sites included the one in Thailand?

[KhunLA]

9/11 ... inside job, and I'll never be convinced other wise.

 

Whether detainees had anything to do with that (doubtful) doesn't matter, if they were involved in any type of other terrorism.   Live by the sword, die by the sword ... som nam naa

[WDSmart]

All those charged with a crime should be tried and, if convicted, sentenced. There should be no "dark sites" like these.

[AnotherOneHere]

6 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

All those charged with a crime should be tried and, if convicted, sentenced. There should be no "dark sites" like these.

 

Why?

[WDSmart]

2 minutes ago, AnotherOneHere said:

9 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

All those charged with a crime should be tried and, if convicted, sentenced. There should be no "dark sites" like these.

 

Why?

Why? Because that's the way the legal system is supposed to work here in the USA. Everyone should be assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, suspects can be detained while awaiting trial, but even that has to be done with a court's approval.

I'm not a lawyer, but that's my understanding of the basics of the law.

[sirineou]

11 hours ago, Tug said:

If proven beyond all doubt they are responsible for 911 I’d be just fine with flogging them to death with each strike of the whip 5 minutes apart as to let them fully understand our rage 😡 sorry guys and gals I’m usually a mellow guy but these nutters bring the rage out in me!

I feel very sad for you

[BangkokHank]

17 hours ago, Tug said:

If proven beyond all doubt they are responsible for 911 I’d be just fine with flogging them to death with each strike of the whip 5 minutes apart as to let them fully understand our rage 😡 sorry guys and gals I’m usually a mellow guy but these nutters bring the rage out in me!

Would you approve of the same punishment for the Israelis who were actually behind 911?

[placeholder]

40 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

Would you approve of the same punishment for the Israelis who were actually behind 911?

This is what is called a "When did you stop beating your wife" question.

[stoner]

18 hours ago, Tug said:

If proven beyond all doubt they are responsible for 911 I’d be just fine with flogging them to death with each strike of the whip 5 minutes apart as to let them fully understand our rage 😡 sorry guys and gals I’m usually a mellow guy but these nutters bring the rage out in me!

 

our rage ? you mean your own personal demons you are clearly struggling with. 

[novacova]

7 hours ago, WDSmart said:

Why? Because that's the way the legal system is supposed to work here in the USA. Everyone should be assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, suspects can be detained while awaiting trial, but even that has to be done with a court's approval.

I'm not a lawyer, but that's my understanding of the basics of the law.

When it comes to an act of war on US soil, can care less about the US legal system which doesn’t apply to foreign soldiers

[KhunLA]

12 hours ago, Emdog said:

I wonder if his tour of black sites included the one in Thailand?

Anyone believe this complex was a radio station ...

 

[stoner]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Anyone believe this complex was a radio station ...

 

 

nothing new right. training school 103 was just down the road from me. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_X

[The Old Bull]

Most of the 911 operatives were Saudie but Trump banned every other kind of Arab but not the Saudies.  Am I the only one to find this strange?

[Colabamumbai]

Facilities in Udon Thani for waterboarding, etc. The U. S. uses them. 

[WDSmart]

9 hours ago, novacova said:

When it comes to an act of war on US soil, can care less about the US legal system which doesn’t apply to foreign soldiers

But there are also international laws (agreements) concerning how "war" prisoners are treated. This account does not comply with all of those.

[herfiehandbag]

I absolutely agree that prisoners should be treated according to the various international laws and conventions.

 

I do wonder at the idiocy of a supposed "intelligence agency", enthusiastically engaging in activity which it fully well knows is illegal, comprehensively documenting with photographs, subsequently retained, such activity!

 

Beyond stupid!

[john donson]

8 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

Most of the 911 operatives were Saudie but Trump banned every other kind of Arab but not the Saudies.  Am I the only one to find this strange?

 

you mean BUSH with connections to the saudies

 

what had trump to do with 9/11 in 2001 ?????????????

[stoner]

8 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

Most of the 911 operatives were Saudie but Trump banned every other kind of Arab but not the Saudies.  Am I the only one to find this strange?

 

justin trudeau has done arms deals with saudi. 

[DaddyWarbucks]

14 minutes ago, john donson said:

 

you mean BUSH with connections to the saudies

 

what had trump to do with 9/11 in 2001 ?????????????

Don't let the facts get in the way of The Old Bull's daily <removed> ejaculation.

[Fortean1]

On 8/6/2024 at 11:53 AM, Emdog said:

I wonder if his tour of black sites included the one in Thailand?

In 2007, visited the main gate of the former Camp Samae San and my nephew driving asked if we could enter.  I overheard him say the base was Top Secret.  It was a Royal Thai Marine base after we left in 1976.  The location is ideal as U-Tapao International Airport is about one mile east of the base.  Ferry prisoners in and out using military aircraft

[The Old Bull]

22 hours ago, john donson said:

 

you mean BUSH with connections to the saudies

 

what had trump to do with 9/11 in 2001 ?????????????

Trump had nothing to do with 9/11 but he did ban all kinds of Arabs from coming to the US except Saudies.