Ghost detainee is a term used in the

executive branch of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

to designate a person held in a detention center, whose identity has been hidden by keeping them unregistered and therefore anonymous.The "Taguba Report" On Treatment Of Abu Ghraib Prisoners In Iraq: ARTICLE 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE 800th MILITARY POLICE BRIGADE
May 2004, ''

Findlaw FindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thom ...

'' Such uses arose as the Bush administration initiated the

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

following the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

of 2001 in the United States. As documented in the 2004 '' Taguba Report'', it was used in the same manner by United States officials and contractors of the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center at the Abu Ghraib prison in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in 2003–2004. According to the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

senator

Dick Marty Dick Marty (born 7 January 1945) is a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a former member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun ...

's memorandum on "alleged detention in Council of Europe states", the U.S.

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

(CIA) has captured about one hundred persons on European territory and subsequently rendered them to countries where they may have been

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...

d. This number of one hundred extraordinarily rendered persons is in addition to the estimated hundred U.S. ghost detainees."Information memorandum II on the alleged secret detentions in Council of Europe states, reported by Dick Marty"
, ''BBC'', January 22, 2006

Secret CIA prisons

According to then-

CIA chief The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...

Michael Hayden in 2007, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

had detained up to 100 people at secret facilities abroad (known as black sites) since the 2002 capture of the suspected

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

operative

Abu Zubaydah Abu Zubaydah ( ; , ''Abū Zubaydah''; born March 12, 1971, as Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn) is a Saudi Arabian currently held by the U.S. in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He is held under the authority of Authorization for Use ...

. One example is

Khalid El-Masri Khaled El-Masri (also Khalid El-Masri and Khaled Masri, Levantine Arabic pronunciation: , ar, خالد المصري) (born 29 June 1963) is a German and Lebanese citizen who was mistakenly abducted by the Macedonian police in 2003, and handed o ...

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

citizen abducted by the

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

in January 2004. He was taken to a CIA black site in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

, known as the Salt Pit, for questioning under '

enhanced interrogation techniques "Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" is a euphemism for the program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and various components of the U.S ...

' before he was determined to be innocent in March and eventually released in May 2004 after some additional delays. His abduction was said to be a case of mistaken identity.

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

initially claimed that it did not know of el-Masri's abduction until his return to the country in May 2004. But, on June 1, 2006, the BND (German intelligence agency) declared that it had known of El-Masri's seizure 16 months before Germany was officially informed of his arrest. In a 2007 report,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

related the claims of an alleged ghost detainee, Marwan Jabour, a Palestinian who was arrested in

Lahore, Pakistan Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

, in May 2004. He claimed to have been held for more than a month in a secret detention facility operated by Pakistanis and Americans in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capita ...

. He was flown to a CIA prison in Afghanistan, where he was held in secret, incommunicado detention for more than two years. During his ordeal, he was tortured, beaten, forced to stay awake for days, and kept naked and chained to a wall for more than a month. At least 39 detainees who were once held by the CIA in secret detention remain "disappeared," according to ''Off the Record,'' a report jointly published June 7, 2007 by six leading human rights groups, including Amnesty International, the

Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional RightsThe Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) is a

, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and

. Spokesmen say that their report:

reveals the extent to which the United States has illegally used "proxy detention" to empty its secret sites and demonstrates that far from targeting the "worst of the worst," the system sweeps up low-level detainees and even involves the detention of the wives and children of the "disappeared," in violation of their human rights. 'Off the Record' also documents allegations concerning the treatment of detainees while in secret detention, including torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...
or punishment.

Abu Ghraib's ghost detainees

The practice of ''ghosting'' first achieved widespread attention in 2005 when ''The'' ''Washington Post'' broke a story suggesting that the U.S. Army and the CIA were detaining " unlawful enemy combatants" at the Abu Ghraib prison in

with little or no

due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pe ...

.Josh White, "Army, CIA Agreed on 'Ghost' Prisoners"
, ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', March 10, 2005 According to the article, the CIA asked military intelligence officials to let them house ghost detainees at Abu Ghraib by September 2003 and proposed a memorandum of understanding between the agencies on the topic that November. The Army and the Defense Department have acknowledged that the United States has used ghosting in the past, but have said it was limited to isolated incidents. According to documents obtained by the ''Post'', "unregistered CIA detainees were brought to Abu Ghraib several times a week in late 2003." The ''Post'' cited as evidence the 2004

report A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Antonio Taguba Antonio Mario Taguba (born October 31, 1950) is a retired major general in the United States Army. He was the second American citizen of Philippine birth to be promoted to general officer rank in the United States Army. Taguba is best known for ...

in a report describing abuses of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, eblamed the 800th Military Police Brigade, which guarded the prison, for allowing 'other government agencies' — a euphemism that includes the CIA — to hide 'ghost' detainees at Abu Ghraib. The practice, he wrote, 'was deceptive, contrary to Army doctrine, and in violation of international law'.

When news of a detainee known only as Triple X became known to the public in late 2003,

U.S. Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The se ...

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and a ...

was questioned about him.Pound, Edward T
"Hiding a Bad Guy Named Triple X"
, '' U.S. News & World Report'', June 21, 2004 Rumsfeld was evasive, and speculated about why someone would want to keep a prisoner hidden from the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. This is considered a war crime under

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. On September 9, 2004, General

Paul J. Kern Paul John Kern (born June 16, 1945) is a retired United States Army general and businessman. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army Materiel Command from October 2001 to November 2004. He became President and Chief Operating ...

testified before the

Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for ''Senate Armed Services Committee'') is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Def ...

, stating that an inquiry he led found that the Army had cooperated with the CIA in hiding dozens of ghost detainees from the Red Cross. Kern told the Committee there may have been as many as 100 ghost detainees. In addition to allegations and reports about ghost detainees in Iraq or East Asian countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, there have been reports that the U.S. had held prisoners in detention centers in some European states. In 2006 the

senator

wrote a memorandum on "alleged detention in Council of Europe states." He said the CIA had captured about 100 persons on European territory and subsequently rendered them to countries where they may have been

d. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

reported that this number of 100 extraordinarily rendered persons is in addition to the estimated 100 U.S. ghost detainees.

Criticism

The practice has been criticized by Amnesty International and other

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGOs) as improper and illegal; it prevents these prisoners from having contact with inspectors and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

advocates, and the families of the prisoners have to deal with a "

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiz ...

". One 2005 report by Amnesty International indicated that more than 100 ghost detainees may have been held in U.S.-operated

black site In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black operation or black project is conducted. According to the Associated Press, "Black sites are clandestine jails where prisoners generally are not charged with ...

s at the time of publication. In May 2005, Irene Khan of Amnesty International addressed the issue in a speech:

According to U.S. official sources there could be over one hundred ghost detainees held by the U.S. In 2004, thousands of people were held by the U.S. in Iraq, hundreds in Afghanistan, and undisclosed numbers in undisclosed locations. AI (Amnesty International) is calling on the U.S. government to "close Guantanamo and disclose the rest." What we mean by this is: either release the prisoners or charge and prosecute them with due process.''Amnesty International Report 2005''
, Irene Khan, Speech at Foreign Press Association, '' Amnesty International'', 25 May 2005

References

External links

UN Secret Detention Report Asks, “Where Are The CIA Ghost Prisoners?”
Andy Worthington, January 29, 2010
Behind the Wire: An Update to Ending Secret Detentions (2005)
, Human Rights First

Declassified documents

* US Department of State FOIA-declassified document collections ''This collection consists of documents concerning individuals apprehended after September 11, 2001 and held by the U.S. at military bases or detention facilities outside the U.S. and the rendition of detainees and other individuals to foreign powers.''
Links courtesy of

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's Wayback Machine
Tranche 1

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Detainee 2000s in the United States American phraseology Counterterrorism Counterterrorism in the United States Extraordinary rendition program Enforced disappearance Human rights abuses Imprisonment and detention in the United States Iraq War National security