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 (28)

This report discusses an investigation into the alleged abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib Detention Facility. The investigation was ordered initially by LTG Ricardo S. Sanchez, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Seven (CJTF-7). LTG Sanchez ...

General Bantz J. Craddock, Commander United States Southern Command, ordered an AR 15-6 investigation into alleged instances of abuse at Guantanamo. He appointed Brigadier General John T. Furlow and Lieutenant General Randall M. Schmidt to ...

This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI agent states that he ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Stress positions, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other
Executive Summary discussing the U.S. Southern Command's request to use additional interrogation techniques. On April 16, 2003, the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, approved the following techniques: change of scenery down, which was ...
Major General Geoffrey D. Miller was the Commanding General for the Joint Task Force in Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) from November 4, 2002 to March 26, 2004. He was interviewed regarding his knowledge of detainee abuse at GTMO. He mentioned that his ...
A 30 year-old male Iraqi detainee states he received maltreatment at the hands of US forces at the Mosul Airport.The detainee reports being beaten when he was arrested. He states he was hooded; had hands tied behind his back; placed in a cold ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Physical (non-death))
Face slap or insult slap, General, Dietary manipulation, Other, Physical assault

Lengthy, but almost entirely redacted, document that apparently discusses the CIA’s detention and interrogation program for “high value targets.” The document provides some detail regarding the “standard” and ...

A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation.  The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness ...

This CIA memo provides guidelines on interrogations of detainees, Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The memo is divided into the following sections: 1) Permissible Interrogation Techniques; 2) Medical and Psychological Personnel; 3) Interrogation ...