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 (133)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 06, 2005 | Legislative | ACLU-RDI 3549

Questions for Alberto Gonzalez, during his confirmation hearing, including many related to the treatment of detainees

June 01, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Patrick Leahy
Alberto Gonzalez
Alberto R. Gonzales, John D. Ashcroft, Patrick Leahy, George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George J. Tenet
Jan. 15, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 4984

A memo directing DOD General Counsel Jim Haynes to establish a working group "to assess the legal, policy, and operational issues relating to the interrogations of detainees."  That working group would later recommend ...

June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
William J. Haynes, II
Donald H. Rumsfeld, William J. Haynes, II
May 11, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4660
Hand written note from Colin Powell to Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz concerning a note from UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw.
May 18, 2005
Notes
Colin L. Powell
Donald H. Rumsfeld | Paul Wolfowitz
Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice, George J. Tenet
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1193
Summary of comments made through media outlets by General Peter Schoomaker, General George Casey, Major General Geoffrey Miller, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, President George Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, General Peter Pace, ...
May 16, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Peter Schoomaker, George W. Casey, Jr., Geoffrey D. Miller, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, Peter Pace, Colin L. Powell
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1194
Instructions about message and direction of media queries concerning Abu Ghraib abuse. the emails states "[It is] strongly recommend that any responses to queries regarding MP training of any sort should be answered strictly generically and ...
May 16, 2005
Email
Janis Leigh Karpinski, James R. Helmly, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1195
Department of Defense talking points on Abu Ghraib detainee abuse which highlight how abuse is fundamentally against American military standards, how the majority of U.S. soldiers conduct themselves honorably, and how the abuse will be ...
May 16, 2005
Email
Peter Pace, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez, George W. Casey, Jr., Geoffrey D. Miller, John P. Abizaid
May 04, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1196
Department of Defense talking points on the Abu Ghraib prison abuse. Main points include how disturbing the images are, how the Secretary and the DOD are taking the charges seriously, how the Department will hold violators accountable, how the ...
May 16, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Pace, George W. Casey, Jr., John P. Abizaid, Geoffrey D. Miller, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1199
Army email on Abu Ghraib prison abuse media queries and where and to whom such inquiries should be directed
May 16, 2005
Email
Janis Leigh Karpinski, James R. Helmly, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt
May 03, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1200
Department of Defense Memo re: Talking Points on Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse. Public release.
May 16, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Pace, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez, Geoffrey D. Miller
May 04, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1202
Army public affairs officer discusses a press briefing where the detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and AR 15-6 reports being leaked to the press. Outlines questions anticipated based around the leaked Executive Summary.
May 16, 2005
Email
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Pace