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 (79)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Apr. 16, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 3544

A memo from Secretary Rumsfeld approving a set of interrogation techniques, including some that it admits may be "inconsistent with" provisions of the Geneva Conventions.  The techniques include "Pride and Ego Down," ...

June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
James T. Hill
Donald H. Rumsfeld, James T. Hill, Richard B. Myers
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3132
An FBI agent touring Guantanamo witnessed four (4) seperate incidents of detainee abuse, including stess positions, extreme hot/cold rooms, isolation and the use of loud music upon the detainees.
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature
May 07, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3121
Emails between Valerie E. Caproni, John F. Curran, T.J. Harrington, and Others re: Reported incidents of possible detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay. An NAE official reports three incidents he/she witnessed while in Guantanamo Bay on or around ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Thomas J. Harrington
John F. Curran | Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni, Jay W. Hood, Thomas J. Harrington, John F. Curran
Threat, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
Nov. 04, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3094
FBI Letter from T. J. Harrington to the Dept. of Defense concerning suspected mistreatment of detainees. The letter notifies DOD of three separate incidents of "highly aggressive interrogation techniques being used against detainees in ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Letter
Thomas J. Harrington
William J. Haynes, II, Marion E. Bowman, Thomas J. Harrington
Physical assault, Sexual, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious
FBI | ACLU-RDI 3024
FBI Memo concerning FBI personal's knowledge and documentation of detainee and prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Antonio Taguba
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
May 25, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2983
This FBI memo concerns the activities of FBI personnel at Abu Ghraib prison from October 2003 to December 2003. The FBI conducted 15 interviews of military personnel, each being present at Abu Ghraib prison at some point during October 2003 & ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Other
May 19, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2829

Cable summarizes the results of 14 interviews of FBI personnel who participated in detainee interviews at Abu Ghraib between October and December 2003. Attached to the cable is a classified chart of FBI personnel who conducted interviews at ...

Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Thomas J. Harrington | Valerie E. Caproni
Thomas J. Harrington, Valerie E. Caproni, Chris Swecker, J. Stephen Tidwell, Janice K. Fedarcyk, Brenton L. Mosher, Warren T. Bamford, Edward J. Barrett
Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
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
May 03, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 2294

This document is the Court Martial - charge and prosecution package for Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr. of the 372nd Military Police Company. SPC Graner was a key figure in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and this document contains the ...

Feb. 15, 2006
Photograph, UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Charles A. Graner, Jr.
Physical assault, Sexual, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training, Threat, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation
Sept. 16, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2250
Criminal Investigation Command (CID) report into allegations of assault, cruelty and maltreatment of a detainee by guards at Abu Ghraib. Among the detainee's allegations, he stated that a US Army Sergeant hung him by his arms from the bars of a ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Donald J. Ryder, Thom Jones
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other