put in the hole

“We were in constant fear of retribution,” Mr. Blackwell said, “of me being put in the hole, of the ceremony being stopped, of Chelsea losing her visitation rights.”

At the secret prison the United States ran in Thailand in 2002, one idea kicked around was to have the “bad cop” C.I.A. prepare a grave for the first prisoner of the program, a Palestinian known as Abu Zubaydah, and then have the “good cop” F.B.I. agents rescue him “before he was ever put in the hole,” Dr. Mitchell testified.

“It didn’t matter if you were good or if you were bad, you were always going to be put in the Hole,” said Lillian, 49, a former human rights professor from Caracas, Venezuela, who asked not to be identified by her last name for fear of reprisal.

Being put in the hole makes you more angry, not less.

That evidence had some rescuers wondering if Timmy fell into the hole on his own or was put in the hole.