Black sites

Abstract

This encyclopedia entry defines and explores the human rights implications of the use of black sites. 'Black sites' is the colloquial term used to refer to the secret detention sites operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as part of what is known as the rendition, detention and interrogation programme, in activity between 2002 and 2008 and part of the US global war on terror. The entry examines, in turn, human rights violations, state responsibility, and the case law concerning black sites. Black sites represent one of the strongest assaults on human dignity, encompassing not only grave violations of multiple human rights but also the negation of the dignity and humanity of the individuals detained there. The responsibility of both the US as principal violator and of black sites’ host states for their complicity is undeniable, but it has proven extremely difficult to enforce. Victims’ right to justice and a remedy has still not been satisfied, and several of the former black sites detainees are still detained incommunicado in Guantánamo Bay, without charges or still awaiting trial before US military commissions.