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 (39)

State Department cable concerning the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the Guantanamo detainees. The cable states that a determination on the legal status of the Guantanamo detainees and the applicability of the Geneva conventions to ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
State Department cable with a letter from Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper on behalf of Sec. Powell. The letter states that the men are being held in accordance with the law of war for illegal enemy combatants, but that they are being treated ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Pierre-Richard Prosper
State Department cable to Washington describing a letter left off at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey by a human rights group written to President Bush with accusations of human rights violations and actions in contradiction to the Geneva ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
State Department cable concerning several press reports focusing on the situation in Iraq and Saudi Araiba. International media attention focused on human rights issues, specifically Abu Graib and the killing of civilians in U.S. air strikes and ...
Dec. 20, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
State Department memo on an upcoming visit by the Swedish Prime Minister. The memo provides background to assist the President in preparing for this meeting.
Dec. 17, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Henry Bisharat
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Henry Bisharat, Bridget A. Brink, Heather A. Conley

Press release of trancript of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell On BBC TV with Huw Edwards. Sec. Powell discusses Iraq; Abu Ghraib prison abuse; and the President Bush & UK PM Blair relationship.

Dec. 17, 2004
Other
Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Richard B. Myers, George W. Bush
Press release of trancript of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell On BBC TV with Huw Edwards. Sec. Powell discusses Iraq; Abu Ghraib prison abuse; and the President Bush & UK PM Blair relationship..
Dec. 17, 2004
Email
Sara A. Stryker
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Richard B. Myers, Sara A. Stryker
State Department cable stating that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters are enemy combatants and will not be afforded the Geneva Conventions, but will be treated humanely and in accordance with the principles of the Geneva Convention. "The U.S. is ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
State Department cable concerning the procedures for U.S. Military commissions that may be established to try suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrrorists. This State Department cable provides talking points for US mission & Embassy officials to ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush
State Department cable to the U.S. Mission in Venna to deliver remarks of Sec. Powell to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe May 13, 2003. The points to make are i) The Military Commissions will be impartial; ii) there is a ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush