Mapping the CIA’s Secret Prisons

The Associated Press and German public television, ARD Panorama, exposed stunning details today about a secret CIA prison in Romania, just minutes from the capital Bucharest.

For years, “Bright Light” served as a makeshift prison for valuable detainees, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad. The report and accompanying multimedia graphic are an illuminating look inside one site of the CIA’s controversial detention program that blossomed after 9/11.

Thanks to The Awl, for reminding us of our 2007 interactive map of the CIA’s network of “black sites” around the world. You can also spot foreign prisons where the agency has rendered dozens of terror suspects for “enhanced interrogations,” as well as some of the U.S. front companies and aviation contractors whose planes have been used by the CIA to transport prisoners, known as rendition.

Though the CIA’s secret interrogation program has been closed under the Obama administration, rendition continues in certain circumstances. Critics of rendition say torture was routine during the interrogations.

Bonus Video: Extraordinary Rendition: In this 2007 FRONTLINE/World film, correspondent Stephen Grey investigates the CIA’s secret rendition program and maps its network of “black sites.”