Black site

A black site is a place where prisoners are kept in secret.

The term was invented for places controlled by the CIA and used by the U.S. government in its War on Terror. They are used to hold people the CIA think are 'unlawful enemy combatants'.


U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged the existence of secret prisons operated by the CIA during a speech on September 6, 2006. A claim that the black sites existed was made by The Washington Post in November 2005 and before this by human rights NGOs.

On the one hand, there is little or no legal authority for the operation of black sites by the United States or any other countries. On the other hand, many of the atrocities committed by anti-Western groups against civilians are far beyond the Geneva Conventions of war. 

 References 

Category:Prisons
Category:United States intelligence agencies
Category:Human rights abuses
Category:George W. Bush