CIA sent me to be tortured in Afghan prison, says Algerian

Testimony by an Algerian national caught up in the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme, held for 16 months in secret prisons and later released without charge, has revealed how he was chained by the wrists and ankles and left hanging from the roof of a torture chamber for hours on end.

Laid Saidi said he was rendered by US officials from Tanzania to Afghanistan in May 2003 and kept in a prison outside Kabul for more than a year before being returned to Algeria via Tunisia.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr Saidi, 43, told how he was kept in a cell "not even suitable for animals" and regularly tortured by guards, some of whom spoke English, which he understands slightly. "They beat me and threw cold water on me, spat at me and sometimes gave me dirty water to drink," he said.

The revelations will add to pressure on the United States to explain its use of rendition, which has been condemned by human rights groups as "torture by proxy" and strained relations between America and its allies.

The US government has refused to comment on Mr Saidi's case, but the Algerian seems to have raised suspicions through his work in Tanzania for al-Haramain, a Saudi-based international Islamic charity, suspected by the US of funding terrorism. He was also working on a fraudulent Tunisian passport at the time of his arrest. He denied having any terrorist links, and said he lost his original passport and was afraid to go to the Algerian embassy in the midst of a civil war against Islamists in his home country.

Mr Saidi's accounts of being hung from the ceiling and his rendition bear a striking resemblance to previous testimonies by detainees believed to have been abducted and held within similar secret prisons in or near Kabul.

His presence in an Afghan prison has been corroborated by Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen who was wrongfully rendered to Afghanistan and held for five months. "At the beginning of our time together, I was in the last cell and he was two cells away from me," Mr Masri told The New York Times. "Whenever I wanted to go to the toilet or was taken for questioning I had to pass his door."

Mr Saidi said he was arrested by Tanzanian police officers on 10 May 2003, and handed over to English-speaking men wearing jeans and T-shirts at the Malawi border. He says he was blindfolded, had his clothes cut from his body and suppositories placed in his anus, and was made to wear a large nappy before being placed on an aeroplane.

He was then allegedly flown to Afghanistan and held in a "dark prison" filled with deafening Western music before being sent to a second prison, where he met Mr Masri.

Two Egyptian nationals, Muhammad al-Zery and Ahmed Agiza, who were rendered from Sweden to Egypt in December 2001, described an almost identical procedure in preparing them for rendition. Similarly, numerous ex-detainees of Afghan "black sites" have described a dark prison near Kabul where Western rap music was played at deafening volume.

Mr Saidi has never been charged or told why he was arrested. "Sometimes I cry and shake when I think about this," he said. "I didn't think I would ever see my family again."

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
South Africa
15 nights from only £1,899pp Find out more
Paris and the Cote d’Azur city break
Seven nights from £579pp Find out more
Seville, Granada and Malaga break
Seven nights from £549pp Find out more
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

iJobs Job Widget
iJobs General

Senior Employment Solicitor - Birmingham

Excellent Package: Austen Lloyd: This is a senior appointment with huge potent...

Teaching Programme Officer with Qualified Teacher Status

£28000 - £31500 per annum + benefits: Randstad Education Newcastle: Permanent ...

SAP FI-CA Consultant - up to £58k

£50000 - £58000 per annum + Benefits and Bonus: Progressive Recruitment: SAP F...

PHP/ Drupal Developer - £35k - WC

£30000 - £40000 per annum + BENS: Progressive Recruitment: Drupal Developer A ...

Day In a Page

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'

Masculinity in crisis?

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'
Have US shock jocks gone too far?

Have US shock jocks gone too far?

An incendiary remark from Rush Limbaugh may be the beginning of the end for outspoken right-wing US broadcasters
The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey pays more income tax than big cities of the North

The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey

Elmbridge pays more income tax than big cities of the North
Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies

Michael Landy's artistic marriage made in heaven... and hell
'He will always be a friend': Jackie Stewart backs Polanski

'He will always be a friend'

Jackie Stewart backs Roman Polanski
The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

The price of pacifism

From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
The experts' guide to summer: From getting fit for the beach to recreating that Olympic buzz

The experts' guide to summer

From getting fit for the beach to recreating that Olympic buzz
Sex, drugs and fast cars: The legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing

Legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing

Early glimpses of Ron Howard's film Rush suggest it will portray Hunt as a high-living lothario, with an insatiable appetite for partying.
Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation when using drugs and alcohol. It was hurting my life'

Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation'

The next Vanilla Ice or the next Eminem? Macklemore doesn't have a record contract – but he does have the UK's biggest-selling single of the year.
Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes

Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes

Sri Lankan cuisine is light, sunny, wonderfully spiced – and so easy to cook from scratch. Just as soon as you've broken into the coconut, that is.
Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in