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)

Email from Army Officer to Army Officer re: Detainee Abuse Response. General Burns asked for an electronic copy of this response to be send forward. Attachment includes a sequence of events on FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] training ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
David D. McKiernan
Email from Army Officer to Army Officer re: Balkans Pre-Deployment Detention Training Requirements. Chain of e-mails confirms that upcoming Balkan units need to be trained on detention facility operations and questions where and how long the ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Donald Campbell
Email from Army Officer to Army Officer re: Detainee Operations before and after May 2004 60 Minutes Broadcast on Abu Ghraib. Army officer discusses training guidence in the wake of the 60 Minutes broadcase about the detainee abuses at Abu Ghraib ...
Email asks whether the experiences of soldiers in the NATO led KFOR operation in Kosovo and their handling of detainees, and any abuse of detainees, could be applied to the handling of detainees in Iraq and in dealing with training and ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Romie Leslie Brownlee, Peter Schoomaker
Email from the Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army directing all army units to report any Article 15 punishments related to detainee abuse either in Iraq, Afghanistan or Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from October 2001 through July 2004 to the JAG.
A JAG Officer is requesting information from a fellow JAG Officer in preparation of a Capitol Hill briefing on JAG prosecutions of detainee abuse worldwide. A specific case involving the death by shooting of a detainee by a soldier at a detention ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
General, Physical assault

Email references a media query directed towards Lt. Gen. John R. Vines for information about the rationale for determing certain detainees as "Ghost detainees" in Afghanistan and Persons Under Control (PUC) and High Value Targets ...

Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Dan K. McNeill
Dan K. McNeill, John Randolph Vines
Questions whether FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] has a weekly update on criminal cases involving detainees. Reference is made to detainees being held at Fort Bragg and in Germany.
Questions whether FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] has a weekly update on criminal cases involving detainees. Reference is made to detainees being held at Fort Bragg and in Germany
Questions whether FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] has a weekly update on criminal cases involving detainees. Reference is made to detainees being held at Fort Bragg and in Germany.
Questions whether FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] has a weekly update on criminal cases involving detainees. Reference is made to detainees being held at Fort Bragg and in Germany. In response the answer is "Due to the sensitivity, ...
Questions whether FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] has a weekly update on criminal cases involving detainees. Reference is made to detainees being held at Fort Bragg and in Germany. In response the answer is "Due to the sensitivity, ...

An email between members of the Staff Judge Advocate, forwarding a Washington Post article titled "Documents Helped Sow Abuse, Army Report Finds," from August 30, 2004.

Forward of Slate article, "Goodbye, Geneva: It's Time to Rewrite the Laws of War" by Phillip Carter, from August 24, 2004.
States that Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick told the Associated Press that he will plead guilty to some offenses involving detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Request for an update on the training of personnel re: handling of detainees in the wake of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison. Attachment outlines improvements in the handling of detainees. Training includes increasing observer evaluations and ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Romie Leslie Brownlee, Peter Schoomaker
Forward of Los Angeles Times article "Officer Was at Crossroads of Abu Ghraib Command" by David Zucchino and Greg Miller, from August 1, 2004.
States that all units at Fort Sill had no Article 15s imposed for detainee-related offenses from October 1, 2001 through July 9 2004.
Request from KnightRidder Newspapers for an interview with Gen. McNeill about the Commander's Inquiry he ordered into the deaths of two (2) detainees at the Bagram Collection Point in December 2002. One of the detainees was found in his cell, ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Dan K. McNeill
Dan K. McNeill
General, Physical assault
Email is a response to Sen. Barbara Milkulski's request for information. It states that FORSCOM [United States Army Forces Command] attachment, called Detainee ops, has as its purpose "to provide information on the pre-mobilization training of ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Barbara A. Mikulski
Training guidance for all soldiers who come in to contact with detainees. This traininig is is related to detainee operations. Attachment outlines training curriculum for all units performing internment & detainment operations under Operation ...
Guidance for Military Intelligence interrogation of detainees
Directs all post-Abu Ghraib inquiries about training to General Kelley.
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Julian Burns
James A Kelley
Julian H. Burns, James A Kelley
References attachment (not included) for responses for the Schlesinger Panel.
Email concerns updated Military police operations for handling detainees in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse.
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
David D. McKiernan
E-mail requests the recipient review and comment on the proposed attachment. Attachment not included.
Operation Iraqi Freedom Detainee Operations and Training Guidance. Attachments are copies of outlines on transparancies used in training.
Request guidance on units involved in detainee operations in Afghanistan
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Julian Burns
Julian H. Burns
Email between Army officers re: Pre-Deployment Training Requirements for the Iraqi Theater for Military Police Units
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Geoffrey D. Miller

Emails between Army officers sharing the results of the Taguba Report concerning the events of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Email asks for recommendations on pre-deployment training. Attachment is a Training Support Package List that outlines training curriculum.
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Jerry R. Curry, Mark A. Barrett
Email concerns the training of Military Police on detainee treatment and handling. It includes a discussion of the inclusion of Geneva Convention and focuses the requirement for humane treatment of all prisoners at all times as specified under ...
Attachments are copies of training materials for Operation Iraqi Freedom and certification documents at the conclusion of the training.
Memo outlines standard operating procedure for detention facilities, including treatment of detainees with dignity, proper filing of paperwork, staffing, use of minimum force necessary, feeding schedules, uniforms, medical treatment, special ...
Outlines standard operating procedure for detention facilities including treatment of detainees with dignity, use of minimum force necessary, prisoner searches, detainee transfer, staffing, patrol, shift changes, cleanliness of facility, meal ...
Requests guidance for specific pre deployment training required for units going over to perform detainee mission. Comments on training for all soldiers before deployment. Attachment is a training support package task list outlining training topics.
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Jerry R. Curry, Raymond D. Barrett, Jr
Email concerning Detainee Operations at Abu Ghraib prison before and after May 2004. This email contains information, chronology and talking points in response to a 60 Minutes report on detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
David D. McKiernan
Emails concern a report conducted by Fmr. Def. Sec. James Schesinger on the training necessary for Military Police units when handling detainees.
Memo concerns the appointment of an investigating Officer for an informal inquiry of Task Force Iron Gunner Detainee Operations. Iron Gunner looked at procedures for identifying Iraqi national's for detention; Tactics, techniques, and procedures ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Raymond Odierno
Raymond T. Odierno
Commander's report of a 15-6 Investigation and Courts-Martial, dated December 2003. This document pertains to allegations that U.S. soldiers broke the jaw of an Iraqi high school boy. There is evidence that suggests the 311th MI personnel and/or ...
Abu Malik Kenami was detained in Iraq on December 5, 2003. He was interrogated and then placed in to the general population at Abu Ghraib prison. From the 5th of December through the early morning of 9th of December Kenami was not obeying the ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Photograph, Interview (Statement)
Abu Malik Kenami
Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Forced physical training
AR 15-6 investigation into a suspected incident of assault. On November 29th, 2003 members of the 187th Infantry Regiment detained in Iraqi male for questioning. The soldiers took a video of themselves assaulting the detainee. The chain of ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Other Humiliation
Investigation into three (3) instances of abuse: one in which a looter were stripped of his clothing and released from custody; another where an Iraqi was accidently shot; and a third in which a detainee was repeatedly hit in the head with a ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement), UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Physical assault, General, Nudity
Investigation into the abuse (hitting and kicking) of several detainees. The detainees were captured for supposedly threatening soldiers with weapons and making false passports. Includes sworn statements of soldiers and detainees.
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File
Face slap or insult slap, General, Physical assault
Investigation into commands by officers to beat detainees. Sworn statements by soldiers and officers claim that such orders would have been made in jest, though some soldiers admit to having taken the orders seriously. Report does not make any ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File
Physical assault, General
Investigation into abuse during prisoner transfer. Finds that one handcuffed and blindfolded detainee was either allowed to fall or pushed from the transport vehicle, resulting in injury as he landed on his side on the ground; that two detainees ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File
General, Other, Physical assault
Investigation into four (4) allegations: 1) commander gave orders not to take POWs and kill all enemies whether they are fighting, injured, or surrendering; 2) a commander giving the order to kill an enemy WIA after an engagement; 3) illegal ...
Army Presentation re: 3rd Brigade Combat Team Detainee Cage Operations Operation Iraqi Freedom. Standard Operating Procedure and Forms for Detention, including staffing, intake, detainee property, detainee rules (no speaking, no written ...
This memo records the detention of one detainee and then details the Standard Operating Procedure and guidelines for 2nd Brigade Holding Area including meal schedules, transport, detainee punishment (limited to isolation and blindfolding), ...
This Army email is to update units who will handle detainees on their roles and responsibilities. It is required for all such deploying units. Discussion of guidance and schedules for pre-deployment training.
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Geoffrey D. Miller