View source for Salt Pit

{{Short description|Former CIA prison in Afghanistan}}
{{about|the secret CIA prison|information on salt mines|Salt mining}}
{{use dmy dates |date=July 2021 }} <!-- as per [[WP:MILFORMAT]] -->
[[File:Salt Pit and Cobalt.jpg|thumb|Photograph of the Salt Pit taken by [[Trevor Paglen]] in 2006]]
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The '''Salt Pit''' and '''Cobalt''' were the [[code name]]s of an isolated clandestine [[CIA]] [[black site]] prison and [[interrogation]] center outside Bagram Air Base<ref name="nbcnews.com">{{Cite web |title=How the CIA Tried to 'Break' Prisoners in 'The Salt Pit' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/cia-torture-report/how-cia-tried-break-prisoners-salt-pit-n264951 |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=NBC News |date=10 December 2014 |language=en}}</ref> in [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Inside the CIA's Sadistic Dungeon">{{cite web |first=Tim |last=Mak |date=9 December 2014 |title=Inside the CIA's Sadistic Dungeon |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-cias-sadistic-dungeon |access-date=20 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221002658/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/09/inside-a-cia-dungeon.html |archive-date=2014-12-21 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-most-gruesome-moments-in-the-cia-torture-report |title=The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA 'Torture Report'|last1=Harris|first2=Tim |last2=Mak |first1=Shane |date=2014-12-09 |website=The Daily Beast|access-date=2017-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511202151/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/09/the-most-gruesome-moments-in-the-cia-torture-report|archive-date=2017-05-11|url-status=live}}</ref> It was located north of [[Kabul]] and was the location of a brick factory prior to the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan War]]. The CIA adapted it for [[extrajudicial detention]].

In the winter of 2005, the Salt Pit became known to the general public because of two incidents. In 2011, the ''[[Miami Herald]]'' indicated that the Salt Pit was the same facility that Guantanamo Bay detainees referred to as the '''dark prison'''<ref name="rosenberg"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-photos-of-black-sites-could-complicate-guantanamo-trials/2015/06/27/7b1177bc-1912-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |date=27 June 2015 |first=Adam |last=Goldman |title=CIA photos of 'black sites' could complicate Guantánamo trials|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2021-07-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628045806/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-photos-of-black-sites-could-complicate-guantanamo-trials/2015/06/27/7b1177bc-1912-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html |archive-date=28 June 2015 }}</ref>—a fact subsequently confirmed in the [[Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture|CIA torture report]].<ref name="Vox1" />

Beginning in April 2021, until the final [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2020–2021)|withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan]], large sections of the Salt Pit were demolished by the departing personnel before the Taliban gained control of the site.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/world/asia/cia-afghanistan-evacuations-demolitions.html |title=Covert Evacuations and Planned Demolitions: How the C.I.A. Left Its Last Base in Afghanistan |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 September 2021 |access-date=1 September 2021 |first1=Christiaan |last1=Triebert |first2=Haley |last2=Willis }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/28/us/politics/cia-base-destroyed-kabul.html |title=U.S. Blew Up a C.I.A. Post Used to Evacuate At-Risk Afghans |work=The New York Times |date=2021-08-28 |access-date=1 September 2021 |first1=Julian E. |last1=Barnes |first2=Farnaz |last2=Fassihi }}</ref>

==Description==
Although the initial plan called for the Afghan government to operate the site, it actually was overseen by the CIA from the start. The CIA authorized more than $200,000 for the construction of the prison in June 2002; the site became operational with the incarceration of [[Redha al-Najar]] in September 2002, although the first formal guidelines for interrogation and confinement at the site were signed by the Director of Central Intelligence [[George Tenet]] only in late January 2003. Ultimately, the prison housed, at one point or another, nearly half of the 119 detainees identified by the [[Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture]].

The CIA used many different techniques and tactics to break down the detainees' minds, making them more willing to comply with interrogation.<ref name="nbcnews.com"/> The prison was dark at all times, with curtains and painted exterior windows. Loud music was played constantly. The prisoners were kept in total darkness and isolation, with only a bucket for human waste and without sufficient heat in winter months. Nude prisoners were kept in a central area and walked around as a form of humiliation. The detainees were hosed down with water while shackled naked and placed in cold cells. They were subject to [[sleep deprivation]], shackled to bars with their hands above their heads. Four of 20 cells of the prison had bars across the cell to facilitate this.

One senior interrogator said that his team found a detainee who had been chained in a standing position for 17 days, "as far as we could determine." A senior CIA debriefer told the CIA Inspector General that she heard stories of detainees hung for days on end with their toes barely touching the ground, choked, being deprived of food, and made the subject of a mock execution. There are almost no detailed records of the detentions and interrogations during the earliest days of the site's existence.

Throughout interviews conducted in 2003 with the CIA Office of Inspector General, top CIA leadership and attorneys claimed they had little knowledge of the site operations. Both the Director of Central Intelligence [[George Tenet]] and CIA General Counsel Scott Muller have claimed they were "not very familiar" with the detention site. In August 2003, Muller said that he believed the site was merely a holding facility. The Inspector General review also found that there were no guidelines for "[[enhanced interrogation techniques]]" at the site, and that some interrogators were "left to their own devices" with prisoners.<ref name="Inside the CIA's Sadistic Dungeon" />

==The Dark Prison==
The '''dark prison''' is the informal name used by some [[Guantanamo Bay detainment camp|Guantanamo Bay]] detainees for a secret prison in which they claim they were detained near [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Human Rights Watch 2005">{{cite web |title=U.S. Operated Secret 'Dark Prison' in Kabul |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |date=2005-12-19 |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/12/19/us-operated-secret-dark-prison-kabul |access-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> This is now identified with the Salt Pit.<ref name="Vox1" /> According to an article distributed by [[Reuters]], eight Guantanamo detainees have described the conditions they were held under in "the dark prison".

Detainees claimed that they were detained in complete darkness for weeks on end. They were chained to bars in small, tight places, and were forced to stay in the same uncomfortable position.<ref name="nbcnews.com"/> They described being deprived of food and water and being given filthy food and water when they were fed.<ref name=HRW>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/12/19/us-operated-secret-dark-prison-kabul |title=U.S. Operated Secret 'Dark Prison' in Kabul |work=Human Rights Watch |date=19 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203062256/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/19/afghan12319.htm |archive-date=3 February 2006 |access-date=15 March 2022 }}</ref>
The prisoners' details have been consistent, saying that the guards did not wear military uniforms—prompting [[Human Rights Watch]] to suggest it was run as a [[black site]] by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. One prisoner reported being threatened with rape.<ref name=HRW /> In 2011, ''[[The Miami Herald]]'' reported that the Dark Prison is another name for the Salt Pit.<ref name="rosenberg">{{cite news |authorlink=Carol Rosenberg |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Carol |first2=Jonathan |last2=Landay |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/30/2293780/justice-department-investigating.html |title=Prosecutors probing deaths of two CIA captives |newspaper=[[The Miami Herald]] |date=30 June 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=18 February 2014 |archive-date=6 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006181941/http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/30/2293780/justice-department-investigating.html }}</ref> Two Afghan captives died there in 2005 and a Department of Defense investigation finally concluded they had been murdered, as some detainees had claimed.<ref name="rosenberg" />

===Detainees who claimed to have been detained in the dark prison===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Jamil al-Banna]]
|
* arrested in Gambia with [[Bisher al-Rawi]] and others
* transported to the [[black site]]
* detained at Guantanamo Bay from March 2003 to 19 December 2007
|-
! [[Abd al-Salam Ali al-Hila]]
|
* detained in [[Camp Delta]]
|-
! [[Bisher al-Rawi]]
|
* arrested in Gambia with [[Jamil al-Banna]]
* detained in the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]]s until March 2007
* released after the British public learned he had been co-operating with [[MI5]] in their surveillance of [[Abu Qatada al-Filistini|Abu Qatada]]
|-
! [[Hassin Bin Attash]]
|
* claims he was tortured in the [[black site]]s
* 17 when captured
* detained in Camp Delta
* brother of [[Tawfiq bin Attash|Waleed Muhammad bin Attash]]
|-
! [[Binyam Mohammed]]
|
* claims he was tortured in the black sites
* detained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps until February 2009
* [[US government]] claimed he was a co-conspirator of [[José Padilla (alleged terrorist)|Jose Padilla]] in a bombing plot, but dropped charges
|-
! [[Ammar al-Baluchi]]
|
* According to a report by the [[Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General|CIA's Office of Inspector General]], he was used as a "training prop" for torture techniques.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=2022-03-14 |title=CIA black site detainee served as training prop to teach interrogators torture techniques |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/mar/14/cia-black-site-detainee-training-prop-torture-techniques |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
* Suffered brain damage from interrogators [[Walling|repeatedly slamming his head into a wall]].
|-
! [[Laid Saidi]]
|
* Saidi worked for the [[Al-Haramain Foundation]] in [[Tanzania]]; captured 10 May 2003.<ref name=Nytimes060707>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/world/africa/07algeria.html |title=Algerian Tells of Dark Term in U.S. Hands |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 July 2006 |first1=Craig S. |last1=Smith |first2=Souad |last2=Mekhennet |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501132636/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/world/africa/07algeria.html |archivedate=2021-05-01 }}</ref>
* Was detained in "Salt Pit" at the same time as [[Khaled el-Masri]], a German resident abducted while on vacation in [[Republic of North Macedonia|North Macedonia]].
|-
![[Sanad al-Kazimi]]
|
* Alleges he was beaten with electric cables and attempted [[suicide]] three times in the prison.<ref name="mayer">[[Jane Mayer|Mayer, Jane]], ''[[The Dark Side (book)|The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals]]'', 2008. p. 274–275</ref>
|-
![[Hayatullah (detainee)|Hayatullah]]
|
* Held in "the black prison" for forty days before being transferred to [[Bagram]], Afghanistan, in 2007.<ref name=NYTimes2007-11-29>
{{cite news
 |url         = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/asia/29detainees.html
 |title       = Interviews With Detainees
 |newspaper   = [[The New York Times]]
 |date        = 2009-11-29
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210423144128/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/asia/29detainees.html
 |archive-date= 2021-04-23
 |url-status  = live
}}</ref>
* Reports that the walls of the prison are concrete blocks. Captives who had been held there a long time say they were originally plywood, painted black.
* Believed the prison was near [[Bagram]] base, and was also called "Tor Jail".
|}

==Death in custody==
[[Gul Rahman]] is the only publicly known death from the Salt Pit. He was arrested and tortured because he was thought to be an Afghan militant.<ref name="The CIA's 'Salt Pit'">{{Cite web |date=2010-03-28 |title=The CIA's 'Salt Pit' |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2010/03/28/investigations-continue-into-salt-pit |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=The Daily Beast |language=en}}</ref> The recently assigned CIA case officer in charge of the prison directed the Afghan guards to strip Gul Rahman naked from the waist down, chain him to the floor of his unheated cell, and leave him overnight, according to the [[Associated Press]]. Rahman was captured in [[Islamabad]] on 29 October 2002.<ref name=WashingtonPost0050305>{{cite news |last=Priest |first=Dana |author-link=Dana Priest |date=6 March 2005 |title=CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment: Afghan's Death Took Two Years to Come to Light; Agency Says Abuse Claims Are Probed Fully |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2576-2005Mar2.html |access-date=2007-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805035050/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2576-2005Mar2.html |archive-date=2011-08-05 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ABC20051130>{{cite news |last1=Ross |first1=Brian |author-link1=Brian Ross (journalist) |last2=Esposito |first2=Richard |date=18 November 2005 |title=CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described: Sources Say Agency's Tactics Lead to Questionable Confessions, Sometimes to Death |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1322866 |access-date=2007-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819064633/https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1322866 |archive-date=2007-08-19 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Abcnews-2010-03-28>{{cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Adam |last2=Gannon |first2=Kathy |date=2010-03-28 |title=AP INVESTIGATION: Cautionary Tale From CIA Prison |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=10222080 |access-date=2010-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123050959/https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=10222080 |archive-date=2010-11-23 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Yahoo-2010-04-06>{{cite news |last1=Gannon |first1=Cathy |last2=Goldman |first2=Adam |date=2010-04-06 |title=CIA victim said to have rescued future Afghan pres |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-cia-victim-said-to-have-rescued-future-afghan-pres-2010apr06-story.html |access-date=15 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629011720/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-cia-victim-said-to-have-rescued-future-afghan-pres-2010apr06-story.html |archive-date=29 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=NewYorker>{{cite news |last=Mayer |first=Jane |authorlink=Jane Mayer |date=2010-03-31 |title=Who Killed Gul Rahman? |work=[[New Yorker (magazine)|New Yorker]] |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/who-killed-gul-rahman |access-date=2010-04-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406161932/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/03/who-killed-gul-rahman.html |archive-date=2010-04-06 }}
</ref><ref name=CbsNews-2010-04-06>{{cite news |date=2010-04-06 |title=Did CIA Torture Victim Once Rescue Hamid Karzai? |publisher=[[CBS News]] |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-cia-torture-victim-once-rescue-hamid-karzai/ |access-date=2010-04-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903010314/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/06/world/main6368610.shtml |archive-date=2012-09-03 }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article127789034.html|title=CIA documents expose agency feud over psychologists leading interrogation program|work=Miami Herald|access-date=2017-07-23|language=en}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=June 2024}} On the morning of 20 November 2002, he was found dead in his cell.<ref name=DeathInvestigation-GulRAHMAN>{{cite web |title=Death Investigation - Gul RAHMAN |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/0006555318.pdf |date=28 January 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413101134/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/0006555318.pdf |archive-date=2021-04-13|work=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]}}</ref> A post-mortem examination determined that he had frozen to death. ''[[The Washington Post]]'' described the CIA camp commandant as "newly minted", on his first assignment. [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] called the CIA camp commandant "a young, untrained junior officer". The ''Washington Post''{{'}}s sources noted that the CIA camp commandant had subsequently been promoted. The commandant was later identified as [[Matthew Zirbel]].<ref name=theintercept>{{cite web |last=Silverstein |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Silverstein |date=2014-12-15 |title=The Charmed Life of a CIA Torturer: How Fate Diverged for Matthew Zirbel, aka CIA Officer 1, and Gul Rahman |website=[[The Intercept]] |publisher=[[First Look Media]] |url=https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/12/15/charmed-life-cia-torturer/ |access-date=2014-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216001726/https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/12/15/charmed-life-cia-torturer/ |archive-date=2014-12-16 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture]] revealed that no CIA employees were disciplined as a result of his death.<ref name="Vox1">{{cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=9 December 2014 |title=16 absolutely outrageous abuses detailed in the CIA torture report |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |url=https://www.vox.com/2014/12/9/7360823/cia-torture-roundup |access-date=9 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209195247/http://www.vox.com/2014/12/9/7360823/cia-torture-roundup |archive-date=2014-12-09 |url-status=live }}</ref> After further investigation, there have been many more cases where the CIA has not taken responsibility nor faced repercussions for their actions.<ref name="The CIA's 'Salt Pit'"/>

Rahman was buried in an unmarked grave, and his friends and family were never told of what happened to him. They learned of his fate in 2010 after an AP story revealed Rahman had died at Salt Pit.<ref name=WashingtonPost0050305 /><ref name=Abcnews-2010-03-28 />

==Khalid El-Masri==
[[Khalid El-Masri]], a [[Germany|German]] citizen, was kidnapped from the [[Republic of Macedonia]] and [[extraordinary rendition|rendered]] to [[Afghanistan]].<ref name=Msnbc20050421>{{cite news |date=21 April 2005 |title=CIA accused of detaining innocent man: If the agency knew he was the wrong man, why was he held? |publisher=[[NBC News]] |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7591918 |access-date=2007-06-28 }}</ref> El-Masri's name was similar to that of [[Khalid al-Masri]], a terror suspect; the Macedonian authorities thought he might be traveling on a [[forgery|forged]] [[passport]], and notified the regional CIA station. A team of American CIA officials were dispatched to the Republic of Macedonia, where they [[Kidnapping|kidnapped]] El-Masri after he was released by the Macedonian officers, but without regard to his legal rights under Macedonian law.<ref name=DerSpiegel20051128>{{cite news |last1=Mascolo |first1=Georg |last2=Schlamp |first2=Hans-Jürgen |last3=Stark |first3=Holger |date=28 November 2005 |title=CIA Flights in Europe: The Hunt for Hercules N8183J |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/cia-flights-in-europe-the-hunt-for-hercules-n8183j-a-387185.html |access-date=2007-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014185844/http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/cia-flights-in-europe-the-hunt-for-hercules-n8183j-a-387185.html |archive-date=2012-10-14 |url-status=live }}</ref> It took over two months for the CIA official who ordered his arrest to assess whether El-Masri's passport was legitimate.<ref name=WashingPost20051204>{{cite news |last=Priest |first=Dana |author-link=Dana Priest |date=4 December 2005 |title=Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake: German Citizen Released After Months in 'Rendition |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/03/AR2005120301476_pf.html |access-date=2007-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701063217/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/03/AR2005120301476_pf.html |archive-date=2007-07-01 |url-status=live }}</ref> El-Masri described being beaten and injected with drugs as part of his interrogation.

On 18 May 2006 U.S. Federal District Judge [[T.S. Ellis, III]] of the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a lawsuit El-Masri filed against the CIA and three private companies allegedly involved with his transport, stating that a [[public trial]] would "present a grave risk of injury to national security."<ref name=WashingPost20060519>{{cite news |last=Markon |first=Jerry |date=19 May 2006 |title=Lawsuit Against CIA Is Dismissed: Mistaken Identity Led to Detention |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051802107.html |access-date=2007-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204181049/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051802107.html |archive-date=2011-02-04 |url-status=live }}</ref> A Court of Appeals also dismissed the case.

On 9 October 2007 the [[U.S Supreme Court]] declined to hear El-Masri's appeal of the lower courts, without comment.<ref name=Bbc20071009>{{cite news |date=9 October 2007 |title=US court rejects CIA kidnap case |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7036051.stm |access-date=2007-11-23}}</ref>

==Bureau of Prisons inspection==
On 21 November 2016, [[CBS News]] reported that an inspection of the Salt Pit, from officials from the [[United States Bureau of Prisons]] (BOP), had been confirmed through [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] (FOIA) lawsuits.<ref name=CbsNews2016-11-21 /> The Bureau of Prison inspection first became public knowledge when the [[United States Senate Intelligence Committee]] published its 600-page unclassified summary of its (then-[[Classified information in the United States|classified]]) [[Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture|6,700 page report]] on the CIA's use of torture. The Bureau of Prison denied sending inspectors. The [[American Civil Liberties Union]] then filed FOIA requests for information about the inspections. When the Bureau of Prisons declined to honor the requests, the ACLU took the matter to court.<ref name="cbsnews.com">{{Cite web |title=Prison officials visited CIA "dungeon," but kept no record of the trip |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bureau-of-prisons-officials-visited-cia-salt-pit-dungeon/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=21 November 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref>

According to CBS News: "The admission came Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, which sued in April after the Bureau of Prisons denied having any record of involvement with the detention site."<ref name=CbsNews2016-11-21 /> In the November filing, the Bureau of Prisons acknowledged that two officials had visited the prison in 2002, but said that they had not technically lied when they denied having any record of the visit, because the CIA had instructed the BOP not to keep any record of the visit to be maintained.<ref name="cbsnews.com"/>

The CBS News report quoted extensively from the Senate report's coverage of the visit.<ref name=CbsNews2016-11-21 /> Their report stated that although Gul Rahman died during the BOP inspection, the CIA's records stated that the BOP inspectors "determined the site was {{'}}not inhumane{{'"}}. Furthermore, they described the detainees as "dogs that had been kenneled" since they scurried away in fear when their cell doors opened.<ref name="cbsnews.com"/>

CBS News first covered the suggestion the BOP inspected the prison in June 2015.<ref name=CbsNews2016-11-21 /><ref name=CbsNews2015-06-19 /> One of the documents the BOP published in response to the FOIA request was an email, in which an official (whose name was redacted) forwarded a link to the CBS article together with the comment, "They just won't let it go."<ref name=BopIncriminatingEmail2015-06-19 />

==See also==
* [[List of prisons in Afghanistan]]
* [[Black site]]
* [[Detainees in CIA custody]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<!--
{{cite news
| url         = http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3222662-DeclarationACLUvDOJ-BOP.html#document/p11/a328818
| title       = Declaration of Ronald L. Rogers
| publisher   = [[Bureau of Prisons]]
| author      = Ronald L. Rogers
| date        = 2016-11-17
| access-date  = 2016-11-27
}}
</ref>
-->

<ref name=CbsNews2016-11-21>{{cite news
 |url          = http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bureau-of-prisons-officials-visited-cia-salt-pit-dungeon/
 |title        = Prison officials visited CIA "dungeon," but kept no record of the trip
 |publisher    = [[CBS News]]
 |author       = Graham Kates
 |date         = 2016-11-21
 |location     = [[New York, New York]]
 |access-date   = 2016-11-27
 |quote        = The Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged for the first time that two of its officials traveled 14 years ago to a secret CIA detention site in Afghanistan, where they provided training to staff at a facility once described by an intelligence official as "the closest thing he has seen to a dungeon."
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161128134747/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bureau-of-prisons-officials-visited-cia-salt-pit-dungeon/
 |archive-date = 2016-11-28
 |url-status     = live
}}</ref>

<ref name=BopIncriminatingEmail2015-06-19>{{cite news
 |url          = http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3222661-EmailsACLUvDOJ-BOP.html#document/p63/a328817
 |title        = Re: Did US prison officials visit a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan? -- CBS News
 |publisher    = [[Bureau of Prisons]]
 |author       = redacted
 |date         = 2015-06-19
 |access-date   = 2016-11-27
 |quote        = They just won't let it go
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161128135328/http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3222661-EmailsACLUvDOJ-BOP.html#document/p63/a328817
 |archive-date = 2016-11-28
 |url-status     = live
}}</ref>

<ref name=CbsNews2015-06-19>{{cite news
 |url          = http://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-us-prison-officials-visit-a-secret-cia-prison-in-afghanistan/
 |title        = Did US prison officials visit a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan?
 |publisher    = [[CBS News]]
 |author       = Graham Kates
 |date         = 2015-06-19
 |location     = [[Washington, D.C.]]
 |access-date   = 2016-11-27
 |quote        = It was an inspection and apparent vote of approval that raised questions about whether the BOP exceeded its bounds of authority as a domestic agency. But the BOP says it has no record that it ever happened.
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20161128135101/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-us-prison-officials-visit-a-secret-cia-prison-in-afghanistan/
 |archive-date = 2016-11-28
 |url-status     = live
}}</ref>
}}


{{CIAPrisons}}
{{AfghanPrisons}}
{{WoTPrisoners}}
{{Afghanistan War}}
{{Incarceration}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salt Pit}}
[[Category:Black sites]]
[[Category:Central Intelligence Agency]]
[[Category:Detention centers for extrajudicial prisoners of the United States]]
[[Category:Prisons in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) sites]]
[[Category:Torture in the United States]]
[[Category:United States war crimes in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:George W. Bush administration controversies]]