EOTO 2 (8)

 Difference Between FBI, CIA, and NSA - Konsyse

The term/concept I was assigned for this assignment was CIA black sites. Many people may not know what this is hearing it at first. This is because it has been kept a secret for a very long time intentionally. CIA black sites refer to sites controlled by the CIA and owned by the U.S government. These sites are mainly found in war territories or overseas in allies territory. The purpose of these sites is to detain, imprison, and question enemy soldiers, combatants, or terrorists. 

CIA black sites originated in 2006 under President Bush. The program was suggested by some military officials as well as officials within the CIA/government. The program was posed to use "enhanced interrogation methods" to gain information from enemy soldiers. In 2007, after a year of this program, President Bush gave the go-ahead to continue these black sites. This is where questions are raised because of details that have surfaced recently.  

Explainer: can people tortured by the CIA now sue the US?

The CIA as well as the government has gone to great lengths to keep this program and method of interrogation a secret from the U.S citizens as well as other countries. The reason why this was meant to be kept a secret is that "enhanced interrogation techniques" mean torture in other words. The U.S government, military, and CIA had been involved in capturing terrorists or war criminals and bringing them to these prisons. These places are described to be some of the worst places on earth, it can be considered a real-life hell. It is like being kidnapped by the U.S government and having nowhere else to go. Enemies were subject to extreme torture for weeks at a time while being sleep-deprived and given little to no food. The extensiveness of this program was hidden even from some government officials because the torture was that bad. Enemies were whipped, beaten, waterboarded, sexually assaulted, starved, etc. Approximately 50 enemies have been reported to have been sent to these "prisons". If only 50 have been found out about, in my opinion, there are many more in even more discrete locations around the world. The U.S government and CIA do not take threats and violence lightly, clearly. Out of these 50 enemies, only 7 of them gave any information that the CIA was looking for. Many of these enemies are high-profile terrorists that are supposed to be eventually put on trial and sent to jail however, some of them do not even make it there. One reason for this is that the CIA was afraid that they would disclose information to the public about these black sites. 

Very recent stories have surfaced regarding black sites. Majid Khan was just placed on trial for his affiliation with Al Qaeda the notorious terrorist organization. Whilst on trial Khan states that he wants the people to know what he did, what happened to him, and what the future holds. In his testimony, Khan goes into heavy detail about what he was subjected to in Guantanamo bay. He was tortured for three years and while details of his containment were declassified in 2014, Khan shed some more light on what actually happens in these black sites. Khan was sentenced to a 26-year prison sentence in agreement with his plea agreement in 2012. 

In conclusion, I am very glad I was assigned this topic for my second EOTO assignment. It was very interesting to read into what these black sites really are and the history behind them. I personally believe that the practice of torture still exists and has always existed within the U.S government/military however I also believe that most other countries participate in this as well. I do think that the publication of documents from Guantanamo Bay and others has damaged the image of the CIA and could have some implications going forward. 

https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2021/11/03/news-new-details-torture-cia-black-sites

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/01/25/what-are-black-sites-6-key-things-to-know-about-the-cias-secret-prisons-overseas/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/08/13/the-black-sites

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/oct/09/cia-torture-black-site-enhanced-interrogation


 



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