The secrets of the CIA's black sites have long been hidden. But now, a disturbing photo showing Amar Al-Baluchi, a 9/11 suspect, shackled, malnourished, and naked in a CIA black site, has emerged, revealing the harsh reality of life inside these secret prisons.
The image, shared by his lawyers, is believed to be from 2004, when al-Baluchi was 26 years old and likely taken at the CIA's secret prison in Bucharest, Romania.
A CIA black site is a secret prison or detention centre operated by the CIA outside the US, where terrorism suspects are held and interrogated. These facilities are not registered with any government or international organisation, and their existence is not publicly acknowledged.
Amar Al-Baluchi has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2006, without being convicted of a crime. He was first arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2003 and secretly transferred between five black sites before being sent to Guantanamo.
This is the first photo to emerge from the CIA's black sites, where hundreds of prisoners were held and interrogated. The image was released through a classification review process at the military commissions and was first published by The Guardian. The photo is believed to be one of hundreds taken by the CIA, showing prisoners being stripped and photographed as they were moved through the black site programme.
The photo sheds light on the CIA's secret detention programme, which held at least 119 Muslim men between 2002 and 2008. Thirty-nine of them were subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques", later admitted by the US government to be torture. Despite this, no one at the CIA has been held accountable.
Al-Baluchi was subjected to forced nudity, "walling" (repeatedly bouncing his head off a wall), sleep deprivation, physical abuse and other forms of torture. He was used as a "training prop" for student interrogators to practice their techniques. He lost 10 kgs in just a few months and may have suffered permanent traumatic brain injury due to the "walling" technique.
The CIA took approximately 14,000 photographs of detainees in their black sites, but only a few have been declassified. The existence of these photos was hidden until 2015, and most remain classified. Defence attorneys have fought for years to release more material, gradually uncovering evidence of the CIA's torture program, showing prisoners being stripped and photographed as they were moved through the black site program.
Daniel J Jones, the lead investigator in the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee study, described the photos as "highly disturbing and clear evidence of the brutality" at the black sites. He called them among "the most highly protected records of the CIA's torture program."
The CIA destroyed videotapes of interrogations at a black site in Thailand in 2005 to prevent their release. The agency's leadership has been accused of trying to conceal evidence of their torture program.
