After September 11, 2001, U.S. officials authorized the cruel treatment and torture of prisoners held in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, and the CIA's secret prisons overseas.

This database documents the U.S. government's official experiment with torture. At present, the database contains well over 100,000 pages of government documents obtained primarily through Freedom of Information Act litigation and requests filed by the ACLU, and through litigation of Salim v. Mitchell, a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of the survivors and the family of a dead victim of the CIA torture program. To learn more about the database, please read the About and Search Help pages. If you're a developer, you can also access this data through our API.

Search Result (4)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Mar. 02, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2288
A detainee alleges that when he was captured he was taken to a palace in Ramadi where he was kicked and electrocuted. The detainee was medically checked during this period and no signs of injury or abuse were indicated.
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Use of electricity
June 12, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2298
Detainee alleged that while at Abu Ghraib prison several soldiers slapped; punched; choked; struck his head, shoulders, and arms with a retractable metal baton; jumped on him; forced him to lean against a wall in a seated position; forced him to ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Walling, Sexual, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Forced physical training
Nov. 02, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2300
Detainee reported that he was arrested after US forces found a weapon in his home. He was detained at Al Sijood Palace, Iraq, and it was during this detention he states he was hooded; flexicuffed; punched; kicked; yelled at; and threatened. ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling
Feb. 02, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 1537

An investigation of detainee abuse that occurred while the detainee was being transported from Al Baghdadi to the Baghdad International Airport and then on to Abu Ghraib prison. The investigation established insufficient evidence to show ...

Sept. 20, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Stress positions