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. 25, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4212
State Department cable discusses the Swiss National Council's (lower house of parliament) declaration to other nations that they continue to respect the Geneva Conventions as "indisputable mimimum standards that may not be qualified under any ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Sharon E. Ahmad, Colin L. Powell
Mar. 25, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4223
State Department cable stating that describing how information on U.S. military commissions will be applied to the detainees at Guantanamo was being sent to Swiss Foreign Minister Poldir Sven-Olof. Heavily redacted.
Mar. 24, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4222
State Department cable synopsizing a meeting between Sec. Powell and Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Diess concerning the geneval Conventions application to the Guantanamo detainees.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Mar. 21, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4211

Cable discusses many issues, including an issue of selling arms to countries with histories of supporting terrorism or regional conflict.

Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Sharon E. Ahmad, George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Richard Lee Armitage
Mar. 21, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4322
State Department cable concerning the procedures for U.S. Military commissions that may be established to try suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrrorists. This State Department cable provides talking points for US mission & Embassy officials to ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush
Mar. 20, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4424
Email from Michael Newton to numerous State Department officials seeking approval to clear a cable for distribution concerning military commissions. Attachment not included.
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Michael A. Newton
Pierre-Richard Prosper | William Howard Taft, IV | William B. Wood | Edward R. Cummings
Michael A. Newton, Pierre-Richard Prosper, William Howard Taft, IV, William B. Wood , Edward R. Cummings, David A. Kaye, Evan T. Bloom, Kara L. Bue, David W. Bowker, James A. Larocco, JoAnn J. Dolan
Mar. 20, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4425
This email is a follow-up on an earlier email seeking clearance on a cable concerning military commissions.
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Evan T. Bloom
Jonathan B. Schwartz | Edward R. Cummings | David W. Bowker | David A. Kaye | JoAnn J. Dolan
Michael A. Newton, Evan T. Bloom, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Edward R. Cummings, David W. Bowker, David A. Kaye, JoAnn J. Dolan
Mar. 18, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3755
This is a DOS Routing and Transmittal Slip for DOS Officials to initial - re: UK Detainees at Guantanamo Bay: Application for Judicial Review
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Jonathan B. Schwartz
JoAnn J. Dolan | Ed Cummings | David Kaye
JoAnn J. Dolan, Evan T. Bloom, David W. Bowker, Edward R. Cummings, Andre M. Surena, David A. Kaye
Mar. 18, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3778
DOS Memo concerning a UK court proceeding on the application by the family of Brittish national detained at Guantanamo. The court was asked to exercise jurisdiction over the detainee, as a brittish citizen, have him released from U.S. custody and ...
Mar. 18, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3798
This is a DOS Routing and Transmittal Slip for DOS Officials to initial - re: UK Detainees at Guantanamo Bay: Application for Judicial Review
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Jonathan B. Schwartz
JoAnn J. Dolan | Ed Cummings | David Kaye
JoAnn J. Dolan, Evan T. Bloom, David W. Bowker, Edward R. Cummings, Andre M. Surena, David A. Kaye