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 Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract includes the third modification to the March 2005 contract between Mitchell, Jessen & Associates and the government. The purpose of this modification is to increase contract value to ...
This Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract includes the fourth modification to the March 2005 contract between Mitchell, Jessen & Associates and the government. The purpose of this modification is to increase contract value to ...
This Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract was filed to de-obligate excess FY 2009 funding from Mitchell, Jessen & Associates Account Line. The contract value remains at $76,007,361.
This Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract includes the second modification to the March 2005 contract between Mitchell, Jessen & Associates and the government. The purpose of this modification is to increase contract value to ...
This Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of Contract includes the first modification to the March 2005 contract between Mitchell, Jessen & Associates and the government. The modification increases contract value and obligation from $1,183,783 ...
Indemnification Agreement between Mitchell, Jessen and Associates, LLC ("MJA") and the U.S. Government, James Mitchell and the U.S. Government, and Bruce Jessen and the U.S. Government. This agreement supersedes the November 8, 2007 ...
This document is an email sent on June 7, 2006, from [redacted] to [redacted] regarding Dr. Mitchell's 7 June Meeting with the DCI. In the previous release of this document (on June 13, 2016), the name "Dr. Mitchell" was also redacted in the ...
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 document is a CIA Memo drafted for the Deputy Director for Operations via the Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Counterintelligence. The previous release of this document (on June 13, 2016) included more redactions such as Bruce ...
This June 22, 2007 email re: EIT briefing for SECSTATE discusses the meeting Mitchell and Jessen had with John Rizzo and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice (General Counsel John Bellenger also attended) to discuss two EITs and Common Article III. ...
This report details the investigation into the death of Gul Rahman. This re-released report includes a description of psychologist Bruce Jessen and his role in the interrogation of Gul Rahman. A version of this document was re-released in ...
Report from the Office of Inspector General on Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities from September 2001-October 2003, specifically focusing on the use of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs). In September 2016, a version ...
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 paper written by James Mitchell and John Jessen discusses interrogation resistance techniques described in Al Qaeda training documents, how to recognize when these techniques are being employed, and strategies for developing countermeasures.
This cable states that the use of EITs requires that a psychological assessment of records, made only by a staff psychologist be completed about the proposed subject before techniques are authorized, and that psychological interrogation ...
This CIA cable discusses the strategy for the post-isolation phase of the Abu Zubaydah interrogation and provides details on Abu Zubaydah's current status. The cable notes that the post-isolation strategy may include time in the "confinement ...
This cable provides formal authorization to proceed with portions of the next phase of Abu Zubaydah's interrogation, which include "more aggressive techniques" in order to obtain information, that the interrogation team concludes he is ...
This cable includes the text of the January 28, 2003 DCI approved "Guidelines on Interrogations Conducted Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of Notification of 17 September 2001". The cable also asks that all personnel involved in ...
This document is a CIA Memo drafted for the Deputy Director for Operations via the Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Counterintelligence. The memo contains background information related to the treatment and condition of detainees as it ...
This CIA cable outlines the recommended interrogation plan for Gul Rahman and states that it should include "environmental deprivation" and "concentrated interrogation exposure." Specifically, sleep loss and fatigue are suggested as most ...
This document contains interview notes of a redacted official discussing their knowledge of the events surrounding Gul Rahman's death. The interview discusses different detention conditions at the COBALT site and the kinds of conditions Gul ...
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 cable states that the CIA may make plans to relocate Gul Rahman to a different site to implement enhanced interrogation measures after his refusal to cooperate with interrogator Bruce Jessen.
This CIA memorandum states that Gul Rahman has refused to confirm his identity or provide information to interrogators. The memorandum requests assistance to apply "alternative psychological pressures" to move Rahman "toward a debriefing mode."
This memorandum states that Gul Rahman was successfully rendered without incident and that there were not security issues or problems in executing the rendition.
This memorandum describes the plan for obtaining cooperation of Gul Rahman, including possible enhanced interrogation due to the fact that Rahman is likely withholding valuable information.
This memorandum states that an individual in custody after a raid is possibly Gul Rahman and that the station will work to make a positive identification.
This document contains an interview of a redacted subject on the death of Gul Rahman. The interviewee describes Rahman's behavior as a detainee and the events that happened after learning of Rahman's death.
This cable states that after cold conditions with minimal food and sleep, Gul Rahman admitted his identity to interrogators, including Bruce Jessen. Rahman was also reportedly confused and appeared somewhat incoherent.
This letter from Steven Bradbury to the CIA's Associate General Counsel is a response to the CIA's November 6, 2007 letter regarding the interrogation of [redacted]. This letter states that applying the interrogation technique in question for the ...
This Jan. 22, 2002 memo from Jay Bybee (OLC) to Alberto R. Gonzales (Counsel to Pres. George W. Bush) and William H. Haynes II (General Counsel of the DOD) responds to a request for advice on the effect of the War Crimes Act and the Geneva ...
An OLC memo from John Yoo to John Rizzo regarding "what is necessary to establish the crime of torture." The memo states that an individual must act with the "specific intent" to inflict severe mental pain or suffering to have committed torture, ...
This August 1, 2002 memo from John C. Yoo to Alberto Gonzales discusses standards of conduct for interrogations under the Torture Convention and under the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court.
This June 23, 2004 memo from Jack Goldsmith (OLC) to Scott W. Muller (General Counsel of the CIA) is a response to Muller's question of whether a redacted "terrorist operative" is a "protected person" and whether his [redacted] would violate the ...
This June 23, 2004 memo from Jack Goldsmith (OLC) to Scott W. Muller (General Counsel of the CIA) is a response to Muller's question of whether a redacted "terrorist operative" is a "protected person" and whether his [redacted] would violate the ...
This letter from Goldsmith to Muller addresses the use of interrogation techniques on a certain high-value detainee and is a follow-up to 2 previous memos approving 33 techniques (an OLC memo approved 9 and a memo from Secretary Rumsfeld approved ...
This letter from Levin to Rizzo addresses the use of waterboarding on a specific detainee. It concludes that "although it is a close and difficult question, the use of the waterboard technique in the contemplated interrogation of [redacted] ...
An OLC memo to the CIA addressing whether the use of four enhanced techniques, "dietary manipulation, nudity, water dousing, and abdominal slaps," in the interrogation of [redacted] would violate the law. The letter concludes that use of the ...
An OLC memo from Bradbury to Rizzo addressing whether the combined use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (including waterboarding) violates the prohibition on torture. The memo concludes that it would not violate the torture statute if used ...
This January 15, 2009 OLC memo from Steven Bradbury discusses the reasons for the withdrawal of nine OLC memos that were issued in the aftermath of 9/11, specifically why the propositions in these memos are not consistent with the current views ...
This transcript is of a hearing held before the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties to examine the OLC's involvement in the legal review of Administration policies regarding detention and ...
This June 10, 2004 letter from Jack Goldsmith to Scott Muller is a response to Muller's March 2, 2004 letter asking Goldsmith to "reaffirm" bullet points entitled "Legal Principles Applicable to CIA Detention and Interrogation of Captured ...
This July 22, 2004 letter from Daniel Levin to Scott Muller asks Muller to provide a "precise description" of the waterboard interrogation technique, so that the OLC can determine if it is consistent with 18 USC §§ 2340 and 2340A.
The September 2004 memorandum from Daniel Levin to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General provides an update on the status of interrogation advice. The memo includes previously given and current/pending advice for the CIA and DOD.
This OLC summary contains advice to the Counsel to President, CIA, and DOD on the use and legality of interrogation techniques in the war against terrorism.
A list of bullet points discussing legal principles applicable to the CIA's detention and interrogation of detainees, including the use of the "enhanced interrogation techniques." Many of the principles listed appear in the OLC's interrogation ...