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 (6709)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
June 17, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3834
This DOS memo appears to be talking points for a John Dimitri Negroponte interview with Jim Lehrer on topics, including detainee abuse, detainee policy, and Saddam Hussein.
Dec. 30, 2004
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush, Frank E. Schmelzer , John Dimitri Negroponte
May 18, 2004 | Legislative | ACLU-RDI 3830
The hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met on May 18, 2004 to continue their ongoing oversight of American policy toward Iraq. The hearing was held in anticipation of the U.S. handing over sovereignty to the Iraqi government six ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Richard Green Lugar, Richard Lee Armitage, Paul Wolfowitz, Walter L. Sharp, Frank E. Schmelzer , John Dimitri Negroponte, L. Paul Bremer, Marc Grossman, John P. Abizaid, Ricardo Sanchez, Russell Dana Feingold, Carter F. Ham, Charles Timothy Hagel, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Lincoln Davenport Chafee, Barbara Levy Boxer , Samuel Dale Brownback, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Paul Spyros Sarbanes, Christopher John Dodd, George V. Voinovich, Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr., Ben Nelson, David Petraeus, Jon Stevens Corzine
May 19, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3831
Press release discussing, generally, the U.S. government's goal towards disarmament and democracy in Iraq.
Dec. 30, 2004
Other
James B. Cunningham
James B. Cunningham, George W. Bush, Frank E. Schmelzer
May 06, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3829
DOS Press Release of a CNN Interview of Richard L. Armitage discussing the administration's response to a "detainee scandal."
Dec. 30, 2004
Other
George W. Bush, Richard Lee Armitage, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Nov. 25, 2003 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 3826
This is a fax cover sheet from the Embassy of Australia discussing a press release on military commissions. [The press release is not included].
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Andrew Shearer
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Andrew Shearer, L.R. Lohman, Harry R. Melone, Pierre-Richard Prosper
Mar. 08, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3827
Email refers to a Human Rights Watch report on abuse by U.S. forces at detention facilities in Afghanistan. The report alleges that U.S. forces operating in Afghanistan have arbitrarily detained civilians, used excessive force and mistreated ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Robert K. Harris
JoAnn J. Dolan | Ed Cummings | Joshua L. Dorosin | Todd F. Buchwald
Robert K. Harris, JoAnn J. Dolan, Edward R. Cummings, Joshua L. Dorosin, Todd F. Buchwald, Monica J. Tillery, George W. Bush
DOS | ACLU-RDI 3828

Email from Russ K. LaMotte, emailed a transcript of an April 20, 2004 Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Hearing on Iraq and Afghanistan to other DOS officials. The hearing transcript is included; the theme is broad, it discusses the ...

Email, Interview (Transcript)
Russell K. LaMotte
Joshua L. Dorosin | James H. Thessin | Todd F. Buchwald | Stephen D. Mathias
Russell K. LaMotte, Joshua L. Dorosin, James H. Thessin, Todd F. Buchwald, D. Stephen Mathias, Carl Levin, Monica J. Tillery, Marc Grossman, Frank E. Schmelzer , John Warner, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard B. Myers, George W. Bush, Dov S. Zakeim, Eric Shinseki, John Dimitri Negroponte, Tommy Franks, Raymond T. Odierno, John R. Batiste, Jack Keane, Richard B. Myers, Mick Kicklighter, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr., Jay Garner, Alan Wayne Allard, John McCain, Richard A. Clarke, Edward M. Kennedy, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Schoomaker, Joe Lieberman, Sue Collins, Jeff Sessions, David Petraeus, John P. Abizaid, Jack Reed, Ricardo Sanchez, John Cornyn, Ben Nelson, Karl Winfrid Eikenberry, Elizabeth Dole, Mark Dayton, John Ensign, Daniel Akaka, Evan Bayh, Hillary Clinton, L. Paul Bremer, James Steele
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
May 17, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3824
DOS Cable discussing allegations that the U.S. Army abused prisoners at Guantanamo. An English newspaper, 'Bahrain Tribune,' reported that U.S. prison guards beat an ailing Bahraini detainee, Juma Al-Dossari.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Ronald E. Neumann
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Ronald E. Neumann, Charles L. Daris, Valerie C. Fowler, William P. Marriott, C. David Welch, Stephen Bondy, Karl W. Hofmann, Harry R. Melone
Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif al Dosari
Physical assault, General
Feb. 19, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3825
DOS Cable discussing allegations that the U.S. Army abused prisoners at Guantanamo. An English newspaper, 'Bahrain Tribune,' reported that U.S. prison guards beat an ailing Bahraini detainee, Juma Al-Dossari.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Valerie C. Fowler, Karl W. Hofmann, William P. Marriott, Harry R. Melone, Charles L. Daris, Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, Ronald E. Neumann, C. David Welch, Stephen Bondy
Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif al Dosari
Physical assault, General
May 20, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3821
This document appears to be a cover sheet for a request by [redacted] to interview detainees at Guantanamo.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Saadia Sarkis, Harry R. Melone, Daniel B. Smith