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 (1314)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Nov. 08, 2006 | ACLU-RDI 6490
This is a heavily redacted message from John Rizzo to Michael Hayden, Michael Morell, and Stephen Kappes, describing an ICRC meeting with detainees and how the detainees' allegations to the ICRC do not "sound far removed from the reality."
June 13, 2016
Email
John A. Rizzo
Michael Hayden, Stephen Kappes, John A. Rizzo, Michael Morell
| ACLU-RDI 6487
This heavily redacted memo asks that language discussing the legality of given activities and judgment calls from senior agency officials not be included in written traffic.
| ACLU-RDI 6484
This message from Scott Muller to James Pavitt describes a planned move of CIA detainees from Guantanamo in light of an upcoming Supreme Court case which will decide whether Guantanamo is U.S. territory.
June 13, 2016
Email
Scott Muller
James Pavitt
James Pavitt, George Tenet, John McLaughlin, John Moseman, Scott W. Muller, Patrick Philbin
Apr. 11, 2005 | ACLU-RDI 6483
This is a heavily redacted message discussing OMS concerns about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques and the legal responsibility for the program.
Apr. 20, 2005 | ACLU-RDI 6482
This heavily redacted message contains draft talking points for the press on the interrogation program.
Feb. 01, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6488
This note from the Counterterrorism Center is heavily redacted and discusses the implications of a detainee being granted POW status and potential violations of the Geneva Convention.
Apr. 25, 2005 | ACLU-RDI 6497
This message contains a discussion between CIA and CTC officials about defending the interrogation program in the public domain and the necessity of retaining secrecy around the program.
May 18, 2015 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6381
This document is a lengthy email from a FBI agent who repeatedly expresses discomfort with FBI interrogation methods. He reports being "placed in a very precarious situation" and "asked to do something I fest was wrong given what FBI agents can ...
Nov. 28, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 5153
Emails to and from Redacted at CJTF-7 regarding the death of Iraqi General Abed Mowhoush and the necessary operational logistics after the fact. The emails describe his death as "[sudden]" and "unexplained." A press release regarding the ...
Nov. 28, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 5152
Emails to and from the DOD regarding the need to conduct an autopsy of Iraqi Major General Abed Mowhoush. One email states that the 82nd Airborne Division issued a press release indicating that the Major General died of "natural causes" and that ...
Jan. 14, 2014
Email
Abed Hamed Mowhoush