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
Feb. 28, 2002 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6804
This memorandum authored by Bruce Jessen and others to Col. Coomey on February 28, 2002 includes specific recommendations for interrogation procedures based on conditions at Camp X-Ray. The memorandum contains "Cardinal Pre-Conditions for ...
Feb. 03, 2017
Non-legal Memo
Bruce Jessen
Bruce Jessen
EIT, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3664
Email refers to a paper from the National Security Council that discusses the legal status of detainees. [Document is not included].
Nov. 23, 2004
Email
Evan T. Bloom
Stephen D. Mathias
D. Stephen Mathias, Samuel M. Witten, Linda Jacobson, Thomas B. Heinemann, David W. Bowker, Eric J. Pelofsky, Andre M. Surena, Katherine M. Gorove, JoAnn J. Dolan, Ted A. Borek, Catherine Mary Malin, Harry R. Melone
Feb. 27, 2002 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 3867
Questions for Powell sent from Ben Barber, State Department Bureau Chief, The Washington Times to Cynthia Church, Public Affairs Office, Department re: POW status and effects on US troops, for American Legion Magazine.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Ben Barbara
Cynthia Church
Cynthia Church
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4132
This is a State department Talking points and press guidance memo concerning the legal basis for the U.S. holding detainees at Guantanamo. The talking points highlight that the detainees are "enemy Combatants" and not Prisoners of War (POWs) and ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Evan T. Bloom, William Howard Taft, IV, James H. Thessin, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Edward R. Cummings, David W. Bowker, Mark F. Wong, John B. Bellinger, III, Eliana Davidson, Daniel P. Collins
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4209
State Department cable distributes transcript from the February 27, 2002 press conference where a variety of subjects were addressed. Among the issued raised were: i) Lori Berenson's conviction upheld in Peru; ii) the status of detainees in ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4237
State Department cable describing how Former Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral gave a speech bashing the U.S. Government for/on the war on terror and counter-terror policies. The main criticism is that the U.S. is not listening ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4750
This State Department Cable is entitled "Subject: February 7 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo". There is no other discernible information or context.
Feb. 27, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6054
The document is an internal FBI email regarding the advice of rights issues at Guantanamo Bay, specifically the possibility of policy changes.
Email
Marion E. Bowman
Feb. 26, 2002 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 376
Army Central Command Combined Arms Assessment Team Initial Impressions Report (ARCENT CAAT). This is a report in several chapters concerning various aspects of military operations and assessments.
Jan. 31, 2005
Other
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Feb. 26, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3564
State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs cover sheet. No attachment.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Gregory M. Suchan, John Finney, Chris Duvall, Carolyn F. Wilson, Timothy J. Dunn, Colin L. Powell