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
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4378
This is a White House press release describing the treatment of detainees as humane and consistent with the Geneva Conventions. It states that all Guantanamo detainees are being provided: three meals a day that meet Muslim dietary laws; water; ...
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4654
This is a press release by the White House concerning the application of the Geneva Conventions to foreign fighters captured in the War on Terror and held in Guantanamo. This is a verbatim account of a press conference as part of the White House ...
Dec. 23, 2002
Other
George W. Bush, Ari Fleischer
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4684
This White House memo discusses the treatment of detainees taken in the War on Terror and how they are to be classified and the determination of their legal status.
June 08, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld | John D. Ashcroft | I. Lewis Libby | George Tenet | Condoleeza Rice
George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Colin L. Powell, John D. Ashcroft, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, I. Lewis Libby, George J. Tenet
Feb. 07, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4719
Email chain regarding the White House announcement on February 7, 2002 about the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo and corresponding talking points. The memo states that the detainees are illegal combatants, and not Prisoners of War (POWs). ...
June 08, 2005
Email
David W. Bowker
Dan B. Smith | David J. Wolff | Kevin M. O'Reilly | Karen Decker | Cheryl Steele | Amy W. Schedlbauer | LaVonya M. Hayward | William B. Wood
David W. Bowker, David J. Wolff, Daniel B. Smith, Kevin M. O'Reilly, Karen Decker, Cheryl Steele, Amy W. Schedlbauer, LaVonya M. Hayward, William B. Wood
Feb. 07, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6581
This February 7, 2002 OLC memo from Jay Bybee finds that the President has "reasonable factual grounds" to determine that no members of the Taliban militia are entitled prisoner of war status under Article 4 of the third Geneva Convention (1949).
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
Counsel to the President
Jay S. Bybee
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 6822
This February 7, 2002 memorandum announces to the vice president, secretary of state, attorney general, CIA director, and others that the President accepts the legal conclusions of the Department of Justice that the Geneva Conventions do not ...
May 15, 2012
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney
Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Jay B. Stephens, Andrew Card, George J. Tenet, Richard B. Myers
Feb. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3579
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. The information is on the ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Brent E. Blaschke
Brent E. Blaschke , Colin L. Powell, Debra L. Cagan, Gregory M. Suchan
Feb. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3626
This document appears to be a cover sheet to a document entitled the Harty-Biegun Memo. [Memo/document is not included].
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Frank E. Schmelzer , Saadia Sarkis, Maura A. Harty, Stephen E. Biegun
Feb. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3627
This appears to be a cover sheet from the Office of the Secretary of State, a cover sheet for an attached Action Memo. [Action Memo is not included].
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Rena Bitter, Lori McLean, Tom Kelsey, Frank E. Schmelzer , Saadia Sarkis, Colin L. Powell
Feb. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3794
DOS interagency delivery checklist for the appropriate handling and delivery of attached documents re: Humane Treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees