Guantánamo Bay Prisoner Tells Court About Abusive Conditions at CIA ‘Black Sites’

Marking a notable first, a prisoner at Guantánamo Bay has openly described the harrowing conditions he faced at CIA “black sites.”

41-year-old Majid Khan, who has admitted to having been a courier for Al Qaeda and being involved in the planning of plots that ultimately never materialized, told jurors on Thursday that he feared for his life when being subjected to various forms of so-called “enhanced interrogation.” Per the Associated Press, Khan’s comments mark the first time any “high value” detainee held at the Cuba base have testified about what has been repeatedly criticized as outright torture.

Khan is said to have spent roughly three years in undisclosed CIA “black sites” before being transported to Guantánamo in September of 2006. According to Khan, he didn’t see natural light when held in black sites and was also not allowed to have contact with anyone aside from “guards and interrogators” from the point of his capture until his sixth year at the Cuba base.

“I thought I was going to die,” Khan, who could potentially be released in early 2022 due to a plea agreement, said Thursday when reading from a statement 39 pages in length. Among the conditions Khan spoke about when looking back on his time in undisclosed location prison sites was being suspended from a ceiling beam in the nude, waterboarded, beaten, subjected to forced enemas, and more. Khan also said he was assaulted and starved.

In July, the Biden administration transferred its first detainee from Guantánamo Bay, bringing the total population to 39.