A/HRC/13/42* page 166 Case 9 - Biographic details Name of interviewee Mr. Khaled El-Masri* Nationality/country of origin German (Lebanese origin) Gender Male Detention Date of initial detention 31 December 2003 Location of initial detention The border of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Grounds of initial detention Initially detained on suspicion of traveling on a false passport. The authority(ies) involved in the detention Initially detained by FYROM border officials. Then transferred to FYROM officials in Skopje. He was detained in the custody of officials of the United States of America, including CIA. He was visited by Afghani persons and a German Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) officer during his detention at the CIA-run detention facility in Afghanistan. Total period of detention Approximately 5 months (31 December 2003 to 28 May 2004) Duration of secret detention Entire period of detention, approximately 5 months. Site(s) of detention, including sites of possible transit 1. Initially detained at the FYROM border. 2. Transferred to Skopski Merak hotel, Skopje, where he was detained for approximately three weeks. 3. Transferred to an unknown location and forcibly placed on a plane. 4. Transferred by plane to Afghanistan, and taken to United States of America’s CIA-run detention facility, known as the “Salt Pit”, where he remained for approximately 4 months. 5. Transferred by plane and released in Albania. Conditions and treatment Detention at the Skopje hotel: he was interrogated in English despite the fact that he knew little English. His request to call the German Embassy, a lawyer and his family were refused. He was offered a deal - to confess to being a member of Al-Qaida and in return he would be released to return to Germany; he refused and undertook a hunger strike. He was instructed to make a statement for a video recording to the effect that he was being treated well and would be shortly returned to Germany. Transfer to Afghanistan: he was escorted from the hotel in a vehicle, handcuffed and blindfolded and led into a room where he was grabbed by two persons, his arms bent backwards and beaten from all sides. His clothes were sliced off, he was thrown on the ground, and he was sodomized. His feet were bound, his blindfold was removed and he believes he was photographed. He was then dressed in a diaper and a sports suit, blindfolded again, his ears were plugged with cotton, and headphones were placed over his ears. A bag was placed over his head, and a belt around his waist, and he was forcibly placed into an airplane, with his arms and legs spread-eagled and secured to the sides. He was forcibly injected twice during the flight. Detention at the “Salt Pit” facility, Afghanistan: upon arrival at the facility, he was beaten and kicked, and detained in a small cell with walls covered in crude Arabic, Urdu and Farsi writing. He was interrogated on three or four occasions, each time during the night. On one