American Special Operations forces have been running a secret prison in Afghanistan, according to information gathered by the Red Cross. Known as the “Tor” or Black Jail by detainees, the facility is reportedly part of the U.S. military’s larger prison at Bagram Air Base.

American commanders have denied the existence of the black jail. However, both the BBC and The New York Times have interviewed f ormer detainees held at the secret facility, where they claimed they were abused, and now the Red Cross has confirmed that, since August 2009, U.S. officials have been informing them of the names of the prisoners kept in the separate detention center.

“The black jail was the most dangerous and fearful place,” Hamidullah, an Afghan held at the prison, told The New York Times. “They don’t let the [International Red Cross] officials or any other civilians see or communicate with the people they keep there. Because I did not know what time it was, I did not know when to pray.”

President Barack Obama ordered the CIA in January 2009 to close down all of its secret or black site prisons where suspected terrorists were held. But that order applied only to the intelligence agency, not the military.

-Noel Brinkerhoff