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 (134)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Nov. 14, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 5865
This is a CID investigation into the death of an unknown Iraqi insurgent who died at Baghdad Central Confinement Facility (BCCF) Abu Ghraib, Iraq after being captured following a house raid in Baghdad. The detainee was brought to the hospital for ...
Jan. 14, 2011
Investigative File (CID), Photograph, Medical (Autopsy, Death Certificate), Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
Unknown Iraqi Male, Baghdad, Iraq August 4, 2005
Physical assault
Sept. 02, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 4808
This report provides detailed information into the death of Zaid Muhammed Tariq, an Iraqi national detainee. On August 22, 2003, at the Dakota EPW Holding Cell officers found Mr. Tariq on the floor of his cell, cell 14, having convulsions. The ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Zaid Muhammed Tariq
Physical assault
May 25, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2494
Collection of five (5) sworn statements about abuse in detention facilities in Iraq, attached to ACLU-RDI 2493. None of the statements report witnessing any physical abuse at Abu Ghraib, but all recount claims by detainees of abuse at other ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
George R. Fay
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of phobias, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
DOA | ACLU-RDI 2496
Sworn statements of three (3) detainees at Abu Ghraib. FIRST STATEMENT: Detainee states that he "was never hit in Abu Ghraib," but was mistreated between his capture and his arrival at Abu Ghraib. Describes being interrogated and hit "by an ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Walling, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling
July 18, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2546
Sworn statement of a government civilian employee (GS-12) regarding detention practices. Mentions detainees "who were complaining" and who "had obvious injuries to their faces, their wrists, and water blisters on their legs." According to the ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Other Humiliation, Sexual
July 07, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2547
Sworn statement by an individual who was present at an interrogation. Refers to a detainee who alleged that he had been abused, "stripped, had a bag placed over his head, and was burned on the foot with a cigarette and hit on the side of his ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Use of electricity, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
June 27, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2548
Sworn statement by a detainee who claimed to have served in the Iraqi Army as a technician. Detainee states that he was handcuffed and had a bag put over his head. He was held "for 17 days" with a bag over his head, "handcuffed to the floor." ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Dietary manipulation
June 06, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2551
Sworn statement by a screener at Abu Ghraib prison regarding two (2) Iraqi women and their two (2) brothers detained at Abu Ghraib prison in January 2004. States, "One [brother] said he was raped with a bottle, and they mentioned another brother ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Nudity, Sexual, Other Humiliation
June 26, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2552
Sworn statement by an Iraqi detainee, referring to abuse of the detainee and her brothers and sister at Adamiya. States, "I saw an Iraqi put a bottle in my brother's rectum. There were Iraqi people doing it and Americans watching. There were six ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual
June 20, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2554
Sworn statement by a Iraqi national who became a detainee at Abu Ghraib along with his sister and brother. He claims that his brother was with the Saddam regime and when he went to visit his sister in Iraq he was taken in to custody as a detainee ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Dietary manipulation