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.
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This February 7, 2002 memorandum announces to the vice president, secretary of state, attorney general, CIA director, and others that the President accepts the legal conclusions of the Department of Justice that the Geneva Conventions do not ...
This is a memo from the Chief of the White House Liaison Section, Executive Services Division, Washington Headquarters Services, DOD to the National Security Council Records Management Office reporting that the "Under Secretary of Defense for ...
This memo from John C. Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, to the President of the American Bar Association provides the legal justification for the treatment of U.S. Civilians as Enemy Combatants, specifically regarding their lack of right ...
This memo from Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Secretary of Defense, to the Attorney General and the directors of the CIA and FBI provides notes and talking points on the most dangerous enemy combatants detained at Guantanamo to provide to the press in ...
This memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Hadley, Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, and Dan Bartlett provides a set of metrics for detention operations through July 20, 2005.
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 ...
This CIA memorandum for the Deputy Director of Operations is a review of the CIA Detainee Program with particular focus on the guidelines for detention and interrogation on May 12, 2004. The memorandum is heavily redacted and states that the CIA ...
This is a redacted memo which discusses the interrogations Mitchell and Jessen are involved with and where they are needed. Mitchell is associated with the interrogation of several different detainees, all redacted except for Gul Rahman.
This is a report from interrogators at COBALT, a CIA black site in Northern Kabul, Afghanistan, describing the status of Gul Rahman's interrogation. It is reported that Rahman was not responding to interrogation by Bruce Jessen; the responder ...
This is a memo from someone (name redacted) located at the site of interrogation to Jim Pavitt, Deputy Director for Operations for the CIA, reporting on the status of an investigation of the death of a detainee. Though the name of the detainee is ...
This memo is a response from a redacted doctor to a request from the CIA Inspector General for comments on the "Draft Special Review--Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Program" report (2003-7123-IG). Everything but the envelope ...
This cable seems to provide the Director of Central Intelligence's guidelines for the operation of detention facilities, and specifically for COBALT, a CIA black site in Northern Kabul, Afghanistan. Almost everything but the acknowledgement is ...
This heavily redacted cable seems to describe a proposal for "turning up the heat" in the interrogation of detainee Abu Zubaydah. One unredacted sentence references moving onto "Option B" in the interrogation; another reveals the psychologists' ...
This heavily redacted message describes one instance (starting on August 4, 2002) of "the aggressive phase" of high value captive interrogation and recommends its use as a template for future interrogation. Nothing new has been disclosed since ...
This heavily redacted paper "discusses the techniques and strategies for resisting interrogation described in captured al-Qa'ida training manuals and other documents. It suggests methods for recognizing when sophisticated resistance to ...
This is an undated note from Jim Mitchell in which he proposes his ideas for "the broad features of the training program" and offers his and Bruce Jessen's help putting the training together and delivering it or helping to "craft the product". ...
Almost entirely redacted document entitled "Proposal for an enhanced interrogation strategy in the War on Terrorism." The only page which is not entirely redacted is an outline of the team responsible for Abu Zubaydah's interrogation.
This document is a memorandum from the chief of the Counterintelligence Evaluation Branch of the Counterespionage Group in the Counterintelligence Center about an interview conducted with John B. Jessen regarding the death of Gul Rahman.
This heavily redacted cable provides authorization and authority for Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell to use the full range of level 1 EITs and the level 2 water board. All envelope information is redacted.
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This letter is the CIA's response to questions raised by Daniel Levin, OLC, regarding the use of waterboarding. The letter describes the CIA's limits in administering the technique. [OLC Vaughn Index #72]
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This heavily redacted memo contains notes from a meeting on specific interrogation techniques, including the waterboard, sleep deprivation, and water dousing, between DOJ attorneys, including Dan Levin and Steven Bradbury, and CIA personnel. ...
This Operational Review of the CIA Detainee Program finds that the program is a success and provides "unique and invaluable intelligence." The review also finds that the procedures for handling detainees are "adequate and clear"and that the ...
This heavily redacted memorandum contains comments from Medical Services on the Counterterrorism Detention and Investigation Program. The memorandum mentions OMS concerns about a conflict of interest in which the only individuals approved to ...
This report, issued by John Helgerson, examines whether CIA interrogators used unauthorized interrogation techniques on high value detainees, including Abd al-Rahman Al-Nashiri.
This document is a heavily redacted message concerning a White House meeting on enhanced techniques, and mentions that the Justice Department memorandum provides a legal "safe harbor" where conduct is lawful and no prosecutions will be mounted.
This document is a heavily redacted letter from Scott Muller to the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence proposing a draft response to a Human Rights Watch letter.
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
These guidelines, issued by George Tenet, detail permissible interrogation techniques (including EITs), medical and psychological personnel who must be present, interrogation personnel, approvals required, and recordkeeping requirements.
This document is a memo in reference to a NCIS request for the FBI to release information on all people who have had interaction with two detainees who have alleged abuse at the hands of military personnel and their interpreters. The detainees' ...
This document is a memo from the Director of the FBI providing guidelines on the disciplinary process within the FBI. He expresses his hope to draw a "bright line" is order to keep all employees aware of his expectations and sets out his vision ...
This document is a Memorandum for the Commander of the US Southern Command. The subject is "Counter-resistance techniques in the war on terrorism." Under "Tab A," the document lists an A-X of interrogation techniques.
This document is a Memorandum for the Commander of the US Southern Command. The subject is "Counter-resistance techniques in the war on terrorism." Under "Tab A," the document lists an A-X of interrogation techniques.
This document is a memorandum alerting Toni Fogle of the FBI's Internal Affairs Division of an investigation into the death of a detainee, Haji Sher Mohammad, and requesting to interview a special agent who administered a gunshot residue test to ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding a request to establish a pre-deployment training program for FBI personnel who deploy to Afghanistan. The memorandum includes a cost analysis as well as a preliminary draft syllabus.
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding the mission overview of the FBI-Afghanistan Detachment based on the CTD Afghanistan Assessment Team (AAT) findings. The memorandum also includes information on detainee interviews and support ...
The document is a memorandum sent from the Office of Oversight and Review in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to the FBI Inspection Division, regarding a request for preliminary information by the OIG. The information will be used to ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding the reporting process for detainee abuse allegations at Guantanamo Bay. The memorandum includes information on the different tracks for reporting, including legal and operations.
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding guidelines for FBI operations in Iraq, designed especially for the FBI's Iraq Task Force (ITF), located in Doha, Qatar. The memorandum also includes information on command and control, ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding the results of interviews of FBI Special Agents conducted by representatives of the United States Army Criminal Investigation command.
The document is a Department of the Army memorandum for the Investigative Operation Division, Headquarters, United States Army Criminal Investigative Command (USACIDC). The memorandum includes information about allegations of abuse made by a ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding a mission overview of the FBI's operations in Afghanistan. The memorandum also includes information on detainee interviews, specialized military operations support, and training provision for ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum for special agents in charge, regarding the guidelines for conducting FBI investigations overseas. The memorandum includes information on Legal Attaches ("Legats"), leads in foreign countries, ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum, regarding the newly created Offense Table and Penalty Guidelines related to the FBI disciplinary process. The guidelines are intended to aid employees in determining the types of behavior that ...
The document is an internal FBI memorandum,outlining administrative policy changes to the Office of Professional Responsibility's (OPR) and the Inspection Division's (INSD) Delegated Investigation/Adjudication (DIA) program.