The U.S. military said Sunday that a once-secret unit within the Guantanamo Bay detention center has been closed and the prisoners moved to another facility on the American base in Cuba. The prisoners at Camp 7 were transferred to a facility adjacent to where the other detainees on the base are held as part of what U.S. Southern Command said in a statement was an effort to “increase operational efficiency and effectiveness.” Officials have previously said about 14 men were held in Camp 7. There are 40 prisoners at Guantanamo.
Camp 7 opened in December 2006 for prisoners previously held in a network of clandestine CIA detention facilities, often referred to as “black sites,” where they were subjected to brutal interrogation techniques. The military ran it under an agreement with CIA, and has long refused to even acknowledge the location of Camp 7 on the base and has never allowed journalists to see the inside of the facility. Among those held at Camp 7 were the five prisoners charged with war crimes for their alleged roles planning and providing logistical support for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
