Lufti al-Arabi, a Tunisian man who was arrested in Pakistan while studying at university, spent 13 years in the CIA's notorious "Salt Pit" prison (AKA "Detention Site COBALT") in Afghanistan, enduring incredible, crippling torture, before finally being released without charge, comment, or compensation in 2015; in his first interview since his release, he tells Human Rights Watch about the inhumane tortures of the Salt Pit, including some tortures that were apparently omitted from the CIA's suppressed torture report to the US Senate.
Among these tortures is a homemade "electric chair" with wires and clips that were attached to his fingers and a wired-up helmet that was placed on his head. Al-Arabi's account is corroborated by Ridha al-Najjar, another Tunisian national who was also held for 13 years before being released without charge.
The Salt Pit is described in the Senate/CIA torture report; it is likened to "a dungeon" whose prisoners "cowered…like a dog that had been kenneled." But the executive summary — the only part of the report in the public domain — does not mention torture by electrocution.
Al-Najjar was mistaken for one of Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. After being kidnapped from his family's home in 2002, he was threatened with many tortures including being "hanged by his anus." He wasn't, but he was sodomized by foreign objects in the prison. He was stripped naked, doused in cold water, and thrown to a concrete floor. An interrogator cocked a gun, put it to his head, and threatened to kill him if he didn't talk. He spent months being hanged from a metal bar for 24 hour stretches with only the tips of his toes brushing the ground, while being beaten with fists and truncheons in the backs of his legs and kidneys.
He was kept in total darkness and fed every third day; he was made to defecate in a diaper that was changed every fourth day. While in in CIA custody, he endured these tortures and more: waterboarding, having his head submerged in ice-water, 48-hour sleep deprivation, having his teeth knocked out, suffering broken hips, a broken ankle, damaged knees and a damaged jaw. Today, he suffers from PTSD and physical disabilities due to his torture injuries.
No explanation has been given for his detention. He was never charged. He was not compensated for his imprisonment. Unable to work or study, he is totally dependent on his family. He says his life has been stolen from him.
Al-Najjar told Human Rights Watch that when he first arrived at the facility, he was stripped naked, thrown on a concrete floor, and doused with cold water. The same Arab interrogator that had threatened to hang him “from his anus” cocked a gun and held it to the back of his head, saying that if al-Najjar did not talk, he would kill him.His interrogators would hang him from the ceiling for 24-hour periods, his wrists strapped to a metal bar over his head and his toes barely able to touch the ground. Often, according to al-Najjar, while he was in this position, guards would beat his legs and back with a baton, or punch him in the kidneys.
While in CIA custody, al-Najjar was kept in a dark room, and could only see when his interrogators shined a light in his face. He was fed every third day and forced to wear a diaper that was only changed every four days.
According to the Senate report, CIA officials initially recommended that interrogators utilize “Najjar’s fear for the well-being of his family to our benefit,” and said that interrogators should use “vague threats” to produce a “mind virus” that would cause al-Najjar to believe abuses would worsen until he cooperated. In August 2002, the CIA authorized an interrogation plan for al-Najjar that consisted of loud music, purposefully bad food, sleep deprivation, and hooding. But his mistreatment seems to have gone far beyond that.
On September 21, 2002, less than a month into his time at the Salt Pit, CIA cables described al-Najjar as “clearly a broken man” and “on the verge of complete breakdown.” But his torture continued, and he was not transferred out of CIA custody until 2004.
Interview: New CIA Torture Claims [Human Rights Watch]
Former CIA Detainees Describe Previously Unknown Torture Tactic: A Makeshift Electric Chair
[Alex Emmons/The Intercept]
