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 (199)

Investigation into possible abuse in Tikrit, Iraq. A detainee alleged that he had been slapped in the face by an Iraqi interpreter during an interrogation and said that he had been held in a cramped cell with loud music, not allowed food, ...

Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Cramped confinement, Dietary manipulation, Light or sound, Environmental manipulation

On 1/18/04, a detainee gave a statement about abuse he had suffered at Abu Ghraib and also stated that he had witnessed a translator forcibly sodomizing a male juvenile detainee while a female U.S. soldier observed and took pictures. (This ...

CID Report and accompanying documents related to an investigation into allegation of abuse of a detainee in Peshawar, Pakistan and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The detainee claimed that he was beaten on his hands, feet, and chest while detained. The ...
Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault
Investigations into numerous alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison and Al-Ademeya Palace based on reports from CACI and Titan translation employees. Alleged abuses include the physical beatings and humiliation of various detainees, forced exercise ...
CID Report summarizing findings related to allegations of abuse at Adhamiya, most of which are unfounded. States, "Investigation established probable cause to believe [names redacted] committed the offense of False Official Statement" in ...
June 30, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Sexual

Detainee alleged that he was captured in mid-April, 2004 at his house in Ammaria (Al Amiryah), Iraq, held at a U.S. facility in Ammaria, then transferred to Baghdad Airport and, finally, Abu Ghraib. The detainee alleged that, at Ammaria, two ...

Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Other Humiliation
Investigation prompted by NYT article containing victim's allegations of torture and abuse during detention in Abu Ghraib from November 29 through December 31, 2003. Investigation concludes there is not “sufficient evidence to prove or disprove ...
CID Report of investigation into detainee's allegations of abuse while in U.S. custody at Mosul Airport, Iraq, over three day period. The detainee claimed to have sustained a bruise to his left shoulder and scratched during his capture. Once in ...
CID Report describes the charges of aggravated assault, cruelty and maltreatment, and conspiracy being investigated. This document is related to ACLU RDI 1538.
Sept. 20, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Walling, General, Stress positions
Report details the actions taken by the investigating agent for CID# 0212-04-0O259-80249. Detainee's statement alleges that when he was taken, his child was thrown into a wall and his wife hit in the back with a rifle butt. While held in ...
Sept. 20, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Family/others, Other, Threat