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 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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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".
Emails between State Department officials concerning Swedish press reports on the detention of Mehdi Mohammad Ghezali at Guantanamo. The email is mostly redacted.
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, ...
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 ...
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.
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.
State Department memo listing the participants for the November 12, 2002 meeting between Undersecretary Grossman and Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson.
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."
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.
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.
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."
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...