Torture Foia Database

A letter from the OLC providing legal advice regarding the continued use of sleep deprivation on a detainee. It concludes that continued use would be consistent with all applicable law, and that "the continuation of the technique ...

A letter from the OLC providing legal advice regarding the continued use of sleep deprivation on a detainee.  It concludes that continued use would be consistent with all applicable law, and that "the continuation of the ...

An OLC memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo analyzing whether certain conditions of confinement used by the CIA in covert overseas facilities are consistent with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.  The conditions are: (1) ...

A letter providing legal advice regarding whether the conditions of detention at certain oversears CIA facilities are consistent with the applicable standards of the DTA.  It concludes that the conditions of confinement did not constitute ...

An OLC memo addressing whether the CIA may use 6 "enhanced interrogation techniques" in the interrogation of high value detainees: (1) dietary manipulation, (2) extended sleep deprivation, (3) facial hold, (4) attention grasp, (5) ...

An OLC memo addressing whether certain enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA are consistent with the United States's obligations under Article 16 of the United Nations Convention Agsinst Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or ...

An OLC memo concluding that the CIA’s interrogation techniques do not violate the torture statute if used individually.

An OLC memo concluding that the CIA’s proposed interrogation plan for Abu Zubaydah — which contemplates methods including “insects placed in a confinement box” and “the waterboard” — does not violate ...

An OLC memo advising “that caution should be exercised before relying in any respect” on John C. Yoo’s October 23, 2001 memo, Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the United States. ...

An OLC memo stating that "the purpose of this memorandum is to confirm that certain propositions stated in several opinions issued by the Office of Legal Counsel in 2001-2003 respecting the allocation of authorities between the President ...

An OLC memo concluding that “the military has the legal authority to detain [Jose Padilla] as a prisoner captured during an international armed conflict,” and that the Posse Comitatus Act poses no bar.

An OLC memo concluding that the “the President’s authority to detain enemy combatants, including U.S. citizens, is based on his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief” and that the Non-Detention Act cannot interfere ...

An OLC memo concluding that Congress cannot interfere with the President's exercise of his authority as Commander in Chief to control the conduct of operations during war, including his authority to promulgate rules to regulate military ...

A memo from John Yoo to John Bellinger analyzing whether the President may suspend certain articles of the ABM treaty.  The concludes that in both cases proposed, the president may suspend the articles.

An OLC memo concluding that, “the President has plenary constitutional authority, as the commander in chief, to transfer such individuals who are held and captured outside the United States to the control of another country.” ...

This memo considers the use of military force to prevent or deter terrorist activity domestically and concludes that, “the President has both constitutional and statutory authority to use the armed forces in military operations, against ...

The memo discusses whether a change to the FISA law would render it unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. Specifically it considers and concludes that changing the law from requiring that foreign intelligence gathering be “the ...

This CID Report investigates numerous allegations of abuse that occurred in September and November of 2003 in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib Prison. Included in the file is the testimony of detainee victims and members of the 372nd Military Police ...

An investigation into alleged aggravated assault, cruelty, and maltreatment of an Iraqi prisoner by U.S. forces.  The detainee stated that he was held at the "Disco" (a detention facility in Mosul, Iraq) for approximately one ...

This document contains several Court-Martial following an investigation into the deaths of two (2) detainees at the Bagram Control Point (BCP) in Bagram, Afghanistan. Both detainees were determined to have been killed by blood clots that were ...

This CID investigation relates to allegations of prisoner maltreatment and abuse by an Iraqi individual captured on July 22, 2004. The detainee alleges he was abused by members of the CIA while being held in a small room at an unknown location ...

A heavily redacted version of a report authored by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General.  The report was later released in less-redacted form.  It discusses the CIA's use of the "enhanced interrogation techniques," ...

A heavily redacted summary of an interview by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General, of Scott W. Muller, the CIA's general counsel. The interview summary discusses viewing videotapes, the approval of waterboarding during the interrogation ...

A heavily redacted cable from the field to CIA headquarters relating to the status of Abu Zubaydah.  The unredated portions refer to the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah.