For the Chinese extralegal detention centers, see
Black jails.
The black site was a
U.S. militarydetention camp established in 2002 inside
Bagram Air Base,
Afghanistan. Since the
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, it is no longer in operation. Distinct from the
main prison of the Bagram Internment Facility, the "Black Jail" was run by the U.S.
Defense Intelligence Agency and U.S.
Special Operations Forces. There were numerous allegations of abuse associated with the prison, including beatings, sleep deprivation and forcing inmates into
stress positions. U.S. authorities have refused to acknowledge the prison's existence.[1] The facility consisted of individual windowless concrete
cells, each illuminated by a single light bulb glowing 24 hours a day. Its existence was first reported by journalist
Anand Gopal and confirmed by many subsequent investigations.[2][3][4]
BBC News reported on May 11, 2010, that the Red Cross had confirmed the site's existence to them and that they had heard the accounts of former inmates.[9][10][11]