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
This State Department cable provides talking points concerning informing foreign governments about the transfer of their citizens/nationals to Guantanamo after they were picked-up on the battle field of Afghanistan, and policy guidance for ...
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Pierre-Richard Prosper
State Department Cable re: November 2003 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo – no other content or context.
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
This State Department cable provides talking points concerning informing foreign governments about the transfer of their citizens/nationals to Guantanamo after they were picked-up on the battle field of Afghanistan, and policy guidance for ...
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Pierre-Richard Prosper, Richard A. Boucher
State Department Cable re: July 18 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo – No other content or context
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
State Department Cable re: Corrected Information Regarding Nationally of Detainees at Guantanamo – no other content or context
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
State Department Cable re: October 18 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo – no other content or context.
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
State Department Cable Subject: May 9 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo – No additional information or context.
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
State Department Cable re: Secretary's July 16, 2003 Conversation with Australian Foreign Minister Downer - No other content or context.
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Jan. 12, 2005
Letter, Judicial
Margaret P. Grafeld
Margaret P. Grafeld
State Department Cable Subject: March 21 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo – No additional information or context.
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
State Department Cable Subject: May 9 Transfer of Detainees to Guantanamo – No additional information or context.
Jan. 12, 2005
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
Checklist of Key Issues for Meeting with Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson. Topics were Turkey/EU, North Korea, Iraq/WMD, Partnership for Peace/NATO enlargement, Guantanamo Swede, and Global War on Terror. Contents redacted.
State Department memo with takling points on issues of the day entitled "Background on Key Issues". Content redacted. Mentions comments by A Lindh criticizing detention policies
Email from Michael Corbin to JoAnn Dolan forwarding a cable from Ambassador Neumann concerning Bahrain's press front paged and headline on November 24 and the the Prime Minister's raising the Guantanamo detainee issue with "CODEL Issa". The ...
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Michael H. Corbin
JoAnn J. Dolan
Michael H. Corbin, Ronald E. Neumann, JoAnn J. Dolan
Letter from Clifford G. Bond Concerning Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Detainees Held at Guantanamo.
Jan. 12, 2005
Letter
Clifford G. Bond
Email from Henry Bisharat forwarding a press article quoting Swedish Foreign Minister stating that she expected the Swedish detainees at Guantanamo to be released "shortly".
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Henry Bisharat
Ronald W. Miller | JoAnn J. Dolan | Yvette M. Wong
Henry Bisharat, JoAnn J. Dolan, Ronald W. Miller
Emails between State Department officials concerning Swedish press reports on the detention of Mehdi Mohammad Ghezali at Guantanamo. The email is mostly redacted.
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
JoAnn J. Dolan
Henry Bisharat | Debra Cagan
JoAnn J. Dolan, Henry Bisharat
Mehdi Mohammad Ghezali
This email forwards a letter received from the wives of unknown men. There is no context to the email.
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Michael D. Fooks
Ronald W. Miller | JoAnn J. Dolan
Ronald W. Miller, JoAnn J. Dolan, Michael D. Fooks
Email from JoAnn Dolan to State Department officials to address questions that may arise concerning the Guantanamo detainees. The guidance states that all the detainees are being treated humanely and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, ...
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
JoAnn J. Dolan
Jonathan J. Carpenter | Pierre-Richard Prosper
JoAnn J. Dolan
Emails between JoAnn Dolan and David Bowker and others concerning a Swedish press report concerning Swedish detainees at Guantanamo. The press report includes an interview with Swedish Foreign Minister Lindh. The comments of the U.S. officials is ...
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
JoAnn J. Dolan
David W. Bowker
JoAnn J. Dolan, Henry Bisharat, Yvette M. Wong, Colin L. Powell, Paul Wolfowitz
John Walker Lindh
Letter Carl Henrik Ehrencrona regarding status of Swedish detainee named Mehdi Mohammed Ghezali. The letter is from a member of the Swedish Parliament in response to Mr. Ehrencrona's efforts to obtain information and or the release of Mr. Ghazali.
Jan. 12, 2005
Letter
Carl Henrik Ehrencrona
Peter Althin
Mehdi Mohammad Ghezali
This email from JoAnn Dolan forwards a letter received by the U.S. Mission from an attorney representing a Guantanamo Detainee. The letter requests that the detainee be given access to counsel and to have the charges and legal justification for ...
Email from Beverly Holman forwarding email with attachments concerning an upcoming meeting with Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson. Attachments not included.
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Beverly S. Holman
Beverly S. Holman
State Department memo listing the participants for the November 12, 2002 meeting between Undersecretary Grossman and Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson.
Jan. 12, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Marc Grossman, Henry Bisharat
Email from Henry Bisherat to Ronald Miller, Ed Cummings and JoAnn Dolan forwarding a "translated Sept.220 document by the Legal Advisor at the Swedish Foreign Ministry on the detainee issue."
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Henry Bisharat
Ronald W. Miller | Edward R. Cummings | JoAnn J. Dolan
Henry Bisharat, Edward R. Cummings, JoAnn J. Dolan
Email from Henry Bisharat to JoAnn Dolan forwarding an email with attachment concerning a meeting of Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage with the Swedish Defense Minister Bjorn von Sydow.
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Henry Bisharat
JoAnn J. Dolan
Henry Bisharat, JoAnn J. Dolan, Richard Lee Armitage
State Department memo listing the Participants for the Deputy Secretary's Meeting with Swedish Defense Minister Bjorn von Sydow.
Jan. 12, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Richard Lee Armitage
Email from Brent Blaschke with the comments "Here's the latest GTMO matrix for the SVTS". Attachment not included
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
Brent E. Blaschke
William Howard Taft, IV | JoAnn J. Dolan
Brent E. Blaschke , JoAnn J. Dolan, William Howard Taft, IV
Email from Samuel Witten forwarding an email with attachments concerning President Issues/Military Orders.
DOS Cable without any context
Ed Cummings forwarded email regarding comments made by International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) Pres. Kellenberger at UN meeting witht he working title of his discussion entitled "How Can ICRC Fulfill its Mandate in Conflicts Today". the ...
Email from Michael Newton to numerous State Department officials seeking approval to clear a cable for distribution concerning military commissions. Attachment not included.
This email is a follow-up on an earlier email seeking clearance on a cable concerning military commissions.
Email forwarded from Evan Bloom to David Bowker with an attachment concerning foreign access to the Guantanamo detainees.
Email from David Bowker to Bill Deere with an attachment entitled "H paper for Powell on Detainee…"
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
David W. Bowker
Bill H. Deere
Colin L. Powell, David W. Bowker
Email from John Cerone to David Bowker forwarding an article (in body) by Cerone on the "Status of deatinees in international armed conflict, and their protection in the course of criminal proceedings."
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
John Cerone
David W. Bowker
David W. Bowker
Email with attachment of State Department talking popints to address questions concerning Al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees. Mr. Kaye writes in his comments "Folks - As many of you know, our posts abroad are geiting easing ilijibbef of questions ...
Jan. 12, 2005
Email
David A. Kaye
Kara L. Bue
David A. Kaye, Kara L. Bue, James Burger , James H. Thessin, Edward R. Cummings, Evan T. Bloom, David W. Bowker
Email forwarding cable concerning a meeting with representatives of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).
Ms. Holman request that Mr. Bloom prepare a memo to covering a Harty-Biegun memo.
Jan. 12, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Beverly S. Holman
Evan T. Bloom
Beverly S. Holman, Evan T. Bloom
DOS Cover Sheet re: Routing and Transmittal Slip for action memo to S on Harty-Biegun memo.
State Department cable from Brussels Mission to Washington summarizing the results of the European Council meeting. The European Parliament adopted non-binding resolution lauding the capture of Saddam Hussein and called for a return of ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Jan. 12, 2005
Letter, Judicial
Margaret P. Grafeld
Margaret P. Grafeld
State Department cable with a letter from Sec. Powell's response to inquiry regarding the welfare of two men detaineed at Guantanamo Bay. The points Sec. Powell makes concerning the proposed trial of any accused held at Guantanamo are: there is a ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
State Department cable to Washington summarizing a November, 2003 meeting between six (6) members of Congress and ten (10) members of the European Parliament. Topics included Iraq, the War on Terror, and Guantanamo.
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
State Department cable summarizes discussion at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe meeting on Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) dedicated to rule-of-law issues. The US took "substantial criticism" for its ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
State Department cable to Washington describing a letter left off at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey by a human rights group written to President Bush with accusations of human rights violations and actions in contradiction to the Geneva ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
State Department cable from Washington to a U.S. Embassy acknowledging receipt of a diplomatic note concerning certain Guantanamo Detainees. The cable states "The national[s] at Guantanamo is being held as ' an enemy combatant[s] and are being ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Ronald W. Miller
State Department cable providing talking points and summarizes discussion from September 18, 2003 Human Rights and Terrorism Meeting at The Hague. The summary includes a "surprising defense of the U.S. policies in the war against terror noting ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
State Department talking points to present at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe meeting in Vienna. The points being made cover many world issues such as human trafficking and combating anti-Semitism and greater cooperation ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
State Department talking points to present to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe concerning human rights and combatting terrorism in The Hague. The presentation focused on military commissions and Taliban and Al-Qaeda ...
Dec. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell