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
Jan. 23, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4117
DOE talking points memo on Q&As concerning Bosnia's handing over six Algerian/Bosnian terror suspects to US forces, and their subsequent transfer to Guantanamo.
Jan. 23, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4200
Cable discusses the U.S. government's knowledge of Vladimiros Montesinos' actions/dealings in Peru and a notice to U.S. citizens in Venezuela. Also, there is a brief discussion on the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo.
Jan. 23, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4344
State Department cable to Washington informing them that a Foreign Minister has made a request for a visitation of one of his nation's citizens being held at Guantanamo. The cable is heavily redacted.
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Jan. 23, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4346
State Department cable concerning the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Staff meeting notes from January 23, 2002. Multiple topics, including detainees. "Public Reaction re detainees is turning very negative." Concerns of various countries ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Paula J. Dobriansky
Jan. 22, 2002 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 2413
Javier Zuniga of Amnesty International letter to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld asking for permission for an Amnesty International delegation to visit Guantanamo Bay detention facility "to observe the conditions under which prisoners are detained ...
June 15, 2006
Letter
Javier Zuniga
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Jan. 22, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 3625
DOS cover sheet, states that a letter to Donald Rumsfeld requesting permission for an Amnesty delegation to visit the Guantanamo base in Cuba is attached.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Javier Zuniga, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Frank E. Schmelzer
Jan. 22, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3871
State Department talking points on answering questions concerning the transfer of six (6) Bosnian detainees from Bosnia to Guantanamo.
Jan. 22, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4199
Cable discusses the U.S. government's support of peace efforts in Colombia, a helicopter accident in Colombia and the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo.
Jan. 22, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4319
State Department cable from the U.S. Mission in Strasburg. Details meeting between U.S. Congressman James F. Sensenbrenner, Jr., with officials of the Council of Europe regarding law enforcement issues related to the war on terrorism, notably ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Pierre-Richard Prosper, Frank James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Jan. 22, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6568
This Jan. 22, 2002 memo from Jay Bybee (OLC) to Alberto R. Gonzales (Counsel to Pres. George W. Bush) and William H. Haynes II (General Counsel of the DOD) responds to a request for advice on the effect of the War Crimes Act and the Geneva ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
Alberto Gonzalez | William J. Haynes, II
Alberto Gonzalez, William J. Haynes, II, Jay S. Bybee, George W. Bush