At the United States’ main detention facility at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, the Defense Intelligence Agency and Joint Special Operations Command operate a secret “black prison,” known as Tor Prison, that members of the International Committee of the Red Cross cannot visit. Human rights advocates have expressed concern that detainees at the black jail are mistreated, based on accounts collected from those who have been held there. According to a report from the Open Society Foundations, prisoners have reported:

 

·         Exposure to excessive cold

·         Exposure to excessive light

·         Inappropriate and inadequate food

·         Inadequate bedding and blanketing

·         Disorientation and lack of natural light

·         Sleep deprivation due to an accumulation of circumstances

·         Denial of religious duties

·         Lack of physical exercise

·         Forced nudity

 

Two days after his inauguration as president of the United States, Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13491, which, among other provisions, guarantees the Red Cross “timely access to, any individual detained in any armed conflict in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States Government.”

 

In practice, however, the Obama administration has denied the Red Cross access to prisoners at the Tor Jail, providing only their names.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Confinement Conditions at a U.S. Screening Facility on Bagram Air Base (Open Society Foundations) (pdf)

Red Cross Confirms Second Secret Prison At Bagram Where Detainees Have Been Tortured (by Jeffrey Kaye, Public Record)