Chicago Mayor Unwilling to Tackle 'Black Site' Before Election – Watchdog

"It's a hot issue now because the current mayor is up for reelection in a few weeks and he has not been willing to make any statement about the situation at Homan. Neither the hiding of arrestees nor the potential torture in the interrogations," Donald Goldhamer, Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill or Rights treasurer, said Friday.

In February, the Guardian reported that the CPD operated a "domestic black site," similar to CIA interrogation sites overseas, in Homan Square on the city's West Side. There, police reportedly abused detainees, some of whom would disappear for days.

Goldhamer said abusive interrogations have not only been occurring at the Homan facility, but have been identified and raised by progressive lawyers for years, but the city has done nothing.

"Police hiding of arrestees has been looked at and discussed with the [Chicago] police department, the superintendent, and the police board, but these efforts have not had an effect," Goldhamer concluded.

More than 100 minorities in Chicago have been tortured between 1972 and 1991, according to Amnesty International USA.

Jon Burge, then-Chicago police chief, was released last month after serving less than four years in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice. Burge was never prosecuted for torture.