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
May 24, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1081

Autopsy Report of an unidentified Iraqi male shot in a firefight and lived to be transported to a U.S. hospital where he underwent multiple surgeries but died due to complications of his wounds. Cause of Death: Gunshot wound to the abdomen; ...

Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy, Death Certificate)
General, Physical assault
May 24, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1457
DoD Questionnaire: Questions for soldiers concerning their observations and experience in dealing with detainees, training before deployment and Rules of Engagement. The questionnaire appears to be in response to the accusations of detainee abuse ...
May 24, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2127
Email includes a "Briefing to Senate Arm Service Committee." It is a briefing on the actions taken by the CID in response to allegations of detainee abuse and deaths. The briefing explains that there are nine death cases still "active pending ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
John Warner
May 24, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2129
Emails discussing a press release update. [Documents not included].
May 24, 2004 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 2720
Email from Joseph Jones to Rena Cornisac, Adam Isles, Julie Samuels, Patrick Rowan, David Nahmias, Bruce Swartz, Peter B. Owen, and Terrie Johnson following an email chain. The subject line reads "Briefing Papers" and the text is entirely redacted.
Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Joseph Jones
Rena Comisac | Adam Isles | Julie Samuels | David E. Nahmias | Bruce Swartz | Peter B. Owen | Patrick Rowan | Terrie Johnson | Patrick Philbin | Renee Lerner | William Hall | Crystal Roberts | Sean McLaughlin | Dave Blake | Gena Bernhardt
Joseph Jones, Rena Comisac, Adam Isles, Julie E. Samuels, Patrick Rowan, David E. Nahmias, Bruce Swartz, Peter B. Owen
May 24, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 2751

Handwritten note. Content: "Pulled this from Buces (?) files FYI."

May 24, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2816
Memorandum from the FBI that provides the Assistant Attorney General with recommendations regarding detainees to appear before the Transfer Review Board ON March 30, 2004. The FBI's repatriation evaluations are attached. Contents of the ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Patrick Rowan
Patrick Rowan
May 24, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4065
Emails include a New York Times article entitled "U.S. Disputed Protected Status of Iraq Inmates." The article discusses the American government's adamant position that many detainees in Iraq are not entitled to the full protections of the Geneva ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Robert K. Harris
Edward R. Cummings
Janis Leigh Karpinski, Robert K. Harris, Edward R. Cummings, Thomas Malionek, Lance L. Smith, Darlyce M. Eley, William J. Gehron, Marc Warren
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Isolation, Nudity
May 24, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 5047

This May 24, 2004 Newsweek article discusses the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. It describes legal justifications for the Bush administration's interrogation program.

Mar. 15, 2013
Other
George W. Bush, Jane Harman, Lindsey Graham, Larry DiRita, Donald H. Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Cofer Black, Colin L. Powell, John C. Yoo, William Howard Taft, IV, Alberto R. Gonzales, Rick Baccus, Richard B. Myers, William J. Haynes, II, Geoffrey D. Miller, Stephen A. Cambone, William G. Boykin, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Paul Wayne Bergrin, Ricardo Sanchez
Physical assault
May 24, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5084
CIA printout of Third Geneva Convention, as available on the Yale Law Avalon Project's website.