ACLU challenges BOP stance that it has no records pertaining to visit to detention site in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2004.

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-15-2016

Members of Witness Against Torture and Amnesty International projected the message, “Torture Is Wrong” in Washington, DC in 2013. (Photo: Justin Norman/flickr/cc)

“What business did the Bureau of Prisons have with a torture site in Afghanistan?”

So asks Carl Takei, staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, as his organization on Thursday filed suit against the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) over documents related to a visit to a CIA detention site code named COBALT.

The ACLU had sought, under a Freedom of Information Act request, records of BOP visits to and involvement with the torture site, but the human rights and civil liberties organization’s request was denied, with the BOP saying no such records could be found. Continue reading →