black site

American  

[blak sahyt] / ˈblæk ˈsaɪt /

noun

1. a location that is never publicly acknowledged as existing, where secret military and defense operations, including the detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists, are conducted out of reach of the law and normal systems of oversight.

   Thailand was likely the first country to host a CIA black site, where suspected 9/11 terrorists were detained.

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black site British  

noun

1. a secret facility used by a country's military as a prison and interrogation centre, whose existence is denied by the government

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Etymology

Origin of black site

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

To file a habeas petition is basically what ensures that you won’t be sent to a black site or put in a prison without ever getting out.

From Slate • May 21, 2025

Nor did he see a replica of the box that his Pentagon-paid defense team had built based on specifications cited in a Senate study of the CIA black site program.

From Seattle Times • May 3, 2022

His testimony was meant to offer an account of what may have been on videotapes that senior CIA leaders destroyed at a time when the Senate Intelligence Committee was investigating the black site activities.

From Seattle Times • May 3, 2022

When Mr. Khan described his experiences at the black sites to the jury in October, he was the first former black site prisoner to do so in open court.

From New York Times • Mar. 11, 2022

He conceded that the location of the black site had been acknowledged by an international tribunal and a former president of Poland.

From New York Times • Mar. 3, 2022