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)

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 ...

This August 1, 2002 memo from Jay Bybee to Alberto Gonzales discusses standards of conduct for interrogations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment as implemented by 18 U.S. C. §§ ...
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
Alberto Gonzalez
Jay Bybee, Alberto Gonzalez
This August 1, 2002 OLC memo from Jay Bybee to John Rizzo discusses whether certain proposed conduct in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah would violate the prohibition against torture found at Section 2340A of title 18 of the U.S. Code. The memo ...
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.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
Alberto Gonzalez
John C. Yoo, Alberto Gonzalez, Jay Bybee
This August 2002 cable regarding Abu Zubaydah's interrogation is largely redacted with the exception of one paragraph that addresses restrictions on the use of the confinement box due to Abu Zubaydah's leg wound.
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
Cramped confinement
This memorandum from the Office of the Assistant Attorney General to Alberto Gonzales examines the legal standards of conduct for interrogations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
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 the torture statute.
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee volunteered that he joined Jihad after the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, but in a peaceful capacity. Stated that if there were inconsistencies in his interview ...
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee stated that he was transferred to Camp Delta from Kandahar, Afghanistan and claimed that while in Kandahar he was threatened by the U.S. investigator with an AK 47 assault rifle. ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Threat, Assault/death
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee stated he was at the Kandahar airport for 2-3 months before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Stated he was treated harshly by the U.S. in Peshawar and Kandahar. Said he was ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling