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
Mar. 03, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2080
Investigation found evidence to prove that an Army Captain committed offense of Maltreatment and Cruelty when he directed a civilian to instruct Iraqi looters to disrobe and had the words for "sinful thief" written on the bodies. Photos withheld ...
Mar. 03, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3123
FBI Memo re: Objectives for the scheduled deployment of FBI personnel to Guantanamo. Memo is from Counter terrorism to Counter terrorism. [Initial document is completely redacted, with exception to the paragraph titles]. The second memo ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Gary M. Bald, Marcus C. Thomas, Michael P. Clifford, John F. Curran, Thomas J. Harrington, Frankie Battle
Mar. 03, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3330
FBI Memo re: To document the background, plan and objectives for the scheduled deployment of FBI personnel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and to request CTD approval of the documented travel; Identify, acquire and install the technology necessary to ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Gary M. Bald, Marcus C. Thomas, John F. Curran, Thomas J. Harrington, Frankie Battle, Margaret R. Gulotta
Mar. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3988
DOS Cover Sheet re: Routing and Transmission Report re: Guantanamo Detainees. The recipients are Sec. Def. Rumsfeld, NSA Advisor Rice and Andrew Card.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell
Donald H. Rumsfeld | Condoleeza Rice | Andrew Card
Mar. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4113
Email from Todd F. Buchwald to Joshua L. Dorosin, Waldo W. Brooks and Edward R. Cummings re: Detainees with attachment. the comments from Mr. Buchwald are "These are the notes I drafted on the DOD paper in case we need to discuss this at John's ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Todd F. Buchwald
Joshua L. Dorosin | Waldo W. Brooks | Edward R. Cummings
Todd F. Buchwald, Joshua L. Dorosin, Waldo W. Brooks , Edward R. Cummings
Mar. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4733
This State Department email from Keith Loken forwards several attachements concerning the "Iraq Strategic Transition Plan Matrix" to other State Department officials. Attachements not included.
May 09, 2005
Email
Keith N. Loken
Ted A. Borek | Ronald Bettauer | Mark Clodfelter | Himamauli Das | Michael Dennis | Joshua L. Dorosin
Ronald J. Bettauer, Himamauli Das, Michael Dennis Rogers, Joshua L. Dorosin, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Corin R. Stone, David S. Newman , James H. Thessin
Mar. 02, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1581
An Army questionnaire, including thirty-five questions, given to a Lieutenant Colonel regarding soldier training, soldier morale and the treatment of detainees. The handwritten responses are mostly illegible or redacted.
Mar. 02, 2004 | CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 4565

A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation.  The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Letter
Scott W. Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith
Scott W. Muller, Jack L. Goldsmith, John C. Yoo, Alberto R. Gonzales, Jay S. Bybee, John A. Rizzo
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
Mar. 02, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 6514
A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation. The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness of detention ...
June 13, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
CIA General Counsel
Jack Goldsmith
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Environmental manipulation, Temperature
Mar. 02, 2004 | CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 6608
A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation. The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness of detention ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Scott W. Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith
Jack L. Goldsmith, Scott W. Muller, Alberto R. Gonzales, Jay S. Bybee, John A. Rizzo
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other