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How the CIA Built Its Secret Prisons

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2009 9:56 AM CDT
How the CIA Built Its Secret Prisons
Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, former executive director of the CIA, turns away from cameras as he leaves the Federal Courthouse following his arraignment on corruption charges, Feb. 14, 2007.   (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)

When CIA officials decided to build a series of secret prisons, they immediately contacted the chief of the agency's European supply base, a Frankfurt-based logistical whiz. “It was too sensitive to be handled by headquarters,” Kyle “Dusty” Foggo tells the New York Times. He called a contractor buddy, and with little fuss, the two swiftly arranged the construction of three prisons inside ordinary-looking city buildings in Bucharest, Morocco, and near a former Eastern bloc city.

The prisons were small, capable of holding about six inmates each. Their identical interiors were designed to prevent injuries during interrogation, with nonslip floors and plywood-covered walls. Prisoners were kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, and rewarded with DVDs or video games if they behaved. The work helped earn Foggo an eye-popping promotion. But he was accused of funneling projects to his contractor friend in exchange for favors, and later pleaded guilty to corruption charges. (More CIA stories.)

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