ACLU v. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons

In 2015, the Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the Department of Justice, declined the ACLU’s FOIA request for documents related to the COBALT visit, writing that “no such records exist.” The ACLU appealed the request; the bureau denied the appeal.

According to the Senate torture report, the Bureau of Prisons deemed COBALT, which operated from 2002 to 2004, as “‘not inhumane.’” The team that visited the site was “‘wowed’” by the level of sensory deprivation the CIA had achieved.

As a result of our litigation, the Bureau of Prisons revealed that the CIA directed the bureau to take extraordinary measures to cover up the bureau’s visit to COBALT. The personnel who visited “were not even allowed to speak with our supervisor about what was going on.” The Bureau of Prisons further revealed that although two bureau employees had in fact visited a CIA detention site in an undisclosed country in 2002, their official travel histories omitted any mention of international travel during that visit.

The Bureau of Prisons’ work at the COBALT detention site illustrates how torture — and the secrecy surrounding it — corrupts every institution it touches. This case raises serious questions for federal officials in future administrations: If torture once again becomes policy, will I have the courage to do the right thing and blow the whistle?