Salt Pit

The Salt Pit
Company type	Secret detention facility
Industry	Intelligence, Detention
Founded	2002
Headquarters	Near Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan
Products	Extrajudicial detention and interrogation

The Salt Pit and Cobalt were the designated code names for a secret CIA black site detention and interrogation facility situated near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Positioned to the north of Kabul, this location was originally a brick manufacturing plant before the CIA converted it into an extrajudicial detention center during the Afghanistan conflict.

The Salt Pit entered public awareness in the winter of 2005 following two significant events. In 2011, the Miami Herald revealed that detainees at Guantanamo Bay referred to this facility as the dark prison, a detail subsequently verified by the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.

Between April 2021 and the conclusion of the U.S. military withdrawal, much of the Salt Pit was dismantled by departing personnel prior to its capture by Taliban forces.

Description

Originally intended to be managed by Afghan authorities, control of the site was assumed by the CIA from the start. In June 2002, the CIA allocated more than $200,000 for its construction; the prison began functioning with the detention of Redha al-Najar in September 2002. Official protocols for interrogation and confinement were only approved by Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet in late January 2003. This facility contained nearly half of the 119 detainees listed in the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.

The CIA employed multiple methods aimed at breaking detainees’ will, such as continuous darkness, loud noise, isolation, and physical degradation. Prisoners were often kept naked in communal areas, hosed down while shackled, subjected to sleep deprivation, and restrained with their hands elevated above their heads. Some individuals endured prolonged standing shackles; one detainee was reportedly restrained for 17 consecutive days. Accounts also describe prisoners being suspended with toes barely touching the floor, experiencing choking, food deprivation, and mock executions. Early documentation regarding detention and interrogation practices is limited.

During 2003 interviews conducted by the CIA Office of Inspector General, senior officials and legal advisors professed minimal awareness of activities at the site. Director Tenet and CIA General Counsel Scott Muller admitted they were "not very familiar" with operations there; Muller considered it merely a holding facility. The Inspector General’s investigation found no formal directives concerning "enhanced interrogation techniques" at this location, leaving some interrogators to act independently.

The Dark Prison

The term dark prison is an informal label used by certain Guantanamo Bay detainees to describe a covert prison near Kabul, Afghanistan, now identified as the Salt Pit. According to Reuters, eight detainees from Guantanamo recounted being confined there under severe conditions.

These detainees described enduring weeks of total darkness, being chained in cramped and uncomfortable positions, and receiving either insufficient or unsanitary food and water. The guards wore no military uniforms, implying operation as a black site under the Central Intelligence Agency. One prisoner reported threats involving sexual violence. In 2011, The Miami Herald confirmed that the Dark Prison was another name for the Salt Pit. Two Afghan detainees died there in 2005; a subsequent Department of Defense inquiry determined these deaths were homicides, supporting detainee allegations.

Individuals reporting detention in the black prison

Jamil al-Banna	Apprehended in Gambia alongside Bisher al-Rawi and others Transferred to a black site Held at Guantanamo Bay from March 2003 until 19 December 2007
Abd al-Salam Ali al-Hila	Confined within Camp Delta
Bisher al-Rawi	Arrested together with Jamil al-Banna in Gambia Detained at Guantanamo Bay detention camp until March 2007 Released after British public became aware of his cooperation with MI5 regarding surveillance of Abu Qatada
Hassin Bin Attash	Reports experiencing torture at various black site locations Captured at age 17; held in Camp Delta Sibling of Waleed Muhammad bin Attash
Binyam Mohammed	Alleges torture at black sites Detained at Guantanamo Bay until February 2009 Initially accused by US authorities as a co-conspirator in the alleged bombing plot involving Jose Padilla, but charges were later dropped
Ammar al-Baluchi	Described by the CIA Office of Inspector General as having been used as a "training prop" for torture methods Sustained brain injuries due to repeated blows to the head administered by interrogators
Laid Saidi	Employed by the Al-Haramain Foundation in Tanzania; captured in May 2003 Detained at the "Salt Pit" alongside Khaled el-Masri, who was abducted in North Macedonia
Sanad al-Kazimi	Reports physical abuse involving electric cables and has attempted suicide three times during detention
Hayatullah	Held for forty days in "the black prison" before being transferred to Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2007 Describes initial prison walls as plywood painted black, later replaced with concrete blocks The facility is believed to be near Bagram Air Base and is also referred to as "Tor Jail"

Fatality during detention

Gul Rahman represents the sole publicly acknowledged death occurring at the Salt Pit. Arrested on 29 October 2002 in Islamabad on allegations of being an Afghan militant, Rahman was subjected to severe treatment mandated by a newly appointed CIA case officer who instructed Afghan guards to strip him from the waist down, chain him to the floor of an unheated cell, and leave him overnight. On 20 November 2002, Rahman was discovered deceased in his cell; autopsy findings confirmed death by hypothermia.

The CIA camp commander at that time, later identified as Matthew Zirbel, was characterized by sources as an inexperienced junior officer on his first deployment but was later promoted. According to the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, no CIA personnel faced disciplinary measures following Rahman’s death. Further inquiries have uncovered additional instances where the CIA evaded responsibility.

Rahman was interred in an unmarked grave, with his family remaining unaware of his fate until a 2010 Associated Press investigation revealed his death at the Salt Pit.

Khalid El-Masri

Khalid El-Masri, a citizen of Germany, was mistakenly abducted from the Republic of Macedonia and transferred to Afghanistan due to confusion with suspected terrorist Khalid al-Masri. Macedonian officials suspected El-Masri of using a forged passport and notified the regional CIA station. After Macedonian authorities released him, CIA agents seized El-Masri unlawfully, disregarding Macedonian legal protections. It took more than two months for the CIA official responsible for ordering his arrest to confirm the authenticity of El-Masri’s passport. While detained, El-Masri reported suffering beatings and being drugged.

On 18 May 2006, U.S. Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis, III dismissed El-Masri’s lawsuit against the CIA and three private contractors involved in his rendition, citing national security concerns that would arise from a public trial. The Court of Appeals upheld this dismissal. On 9 October 2007, the U.S Supreme Court declined to consider El-Masri’s appeal without providing reasons.

Bureau of Prisons inspection

On November 21, 2016, CBS News disclosed that agents from the United States Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had conducted an evaluation of the Salt Pit, a fact verified through lawsuits filed under the FOIA. This information surfaced following the release of an unclassified summary by the United States Senate Intelligence Committee, which detailed its comprehensive investigation into CIA interrogation practices. Initially, the BOP denied dispatching any inspectors; however, after the American Civil Liberties Union submitted FOIA requests that were declined, it initiated legal proceedings.

According to CBS News, a November court submission revealed that two BOP officials visited the facility in 2002 but asserted that no documentation was maintained at the CIA’s directive. The Senate report highlighted that although Gul Rahman died during this inspection, BOP personnel judged the conditions as "not inhumane" and characterized detainees as frightened, comparing them to "dogs that had been kenneled."

CBS News initially reported on the possible BOP inspection in June 2015. Among the disclosed materials was an internal email sharing a CBS article with the comment, "They just won't let it go."