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 (123)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
June 23, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3849
Emails discuss the Department of Defenses' recent release of documents, the documents apparently explained the types of interrogation techniques the U.S. employed in Guantanamo. However, the documents are being criticized as insufficient. The ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Ed Cummings
JoAnn J. Dolan | Todd F. Buchwald | Joshua L. Dorosin | Steven A. Solomon | David Kaye
Edward R. Cummings, JoAnn J. Dolan, Todd F. Buchwald, Joshua L. Dorosin, Steven A. Solomon, David A. Kaye, Charles L. Daris, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Ricardo Sanchez
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Nudity
July 22, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3853
Email forward of a paper written on the three War on Terror cases decisions issued by the Supreme Court in 2004. The paper summarizes Rumsfeld v Padilla, Hamdi v Rumsfeld and Rasul, et al v Bush. All three cases were brought by, or on behalf of, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Katherine M. Gorove
Joshua L. Dorosin | JoAnn J. Dolan | Curtis A. Bradley
Katherine M. Gorove, Joshua L. Dorosin, JoAnn J. Dolan, Curtis A. Bradley, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Janice A. Smith
Jose Padilla, Yaser Esam Hamdi, Shafiq Rasul
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 3863
White House Press Release on the status of detainees at Guantanamo with a fact sheet from the on the treatment, housing, access and medical treatment of detainees. The press release makes a specific point of stating "neither the Taliban nor ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Other
George W. Bush
Dec. 26, 2002 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 3929
This letter from Kenneth Roth the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, to President Bush concerns a Washington Post article dated December 26, 2002 alleging of torture of suspected Al-Qaeda detainees held in U.S. custody. Mr. Roth states "if ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Kenneth Roth
George W. Bush | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld | Condoleeza Rice
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice
Dec. 18, 2003 | Judicial | ACLU-RDI 3949
This is the opinion in the Falen Gherebi v. Bush and Rumsfeld case: Index No: 03-55785; D.C. No. CV-03-01267-AHM.
Dec. 30, 2004
Judicial (Opinion)
Stephen Roy Reinhardt
Stephen Roy Reinhardt, George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld
DOS | ACLU-RDI 3958
This State Department memo addresses the question of applying Military Commissions to the Guantanamo detainees. The memo states 1) Military commissions are well-established in U.S. law and practice, as well as international law and practice; 2) ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
May 06, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3992
DOS Memo re: Talking Points on the Iraqi government taking over Abu Ghraib prison and Iraqi Governance in general post the June 30, 2004 turn-over to the Iraqis. The memo states "The Iraqi criminal justice system, including a number of courts, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush, L. Paul Bremer, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt
June 09, 2004 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 4011
A letter from Netta Voutilainen of Amnisty International to Sec. of State Powell expressing concern for Mohammed Jassem 'Abd al-'Issawi, detained in Abu Ghraib since 12/17/03. Ms. Voutilainen askes "to be informed why he has been detained; and I ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Netta Voutilainen
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld, L. Paul Bremer, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter
DOS | ACLU-RDI 4026
State Department talking points memo on the status of detainees at Guantanamo provides information on the number of detainees held; the status of their case review; the U.S. is treating and will continue to treat all of the individuals detained ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Nov. 27, 2003 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 4028
International Herald Tribune article by Johan Steyn entitled "Guantanamo: A Monstrous Failure of Justice" that is a report on a speech Lord Steyn gave at the 27th F.A. Mann Lecture. Lord Steyn condemns US treatment of detainees at Guantanamo.
Dec. 30, 2004
Other
George W. Bush