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
Mar. 06, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 2404
Letter from Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch to Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asking that U.S. government release all detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Mr. Roth states detaining persons at Guantanamo Bay violates ...
June 15, 2006
Letter
Kenneth Roth
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Apr. 07, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 2405

This fax contains a response letter to The Human Rights watch Ex. Dir. Kenneth Roth addressing his points made in an earlier letter to Sec. Def. Rumsfeld about releasing Taliban armed forces from Guantanamo since the war in Afghanistan is ...

June 15, 2006
Letter
William J. Haynes, II
William Howard Taft, IV | Scott W. Muller | John C. Yoo | John Bellinger
William J. Haynes, II, John C. Yoo, Scott W. Muller, William Howard Taft, IV, John B. Bellinger, III
Aug. 16, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2406
Letter from Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Warfighting Support William G. Boykin to the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency concerning Defense Intelligence Agency policy for interrogation operations. Mostly redacted.
June 15, 2006
Letter
William G. Boykin
William G. Boykin
Sept. 09, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 2401
This emial is to discuss Dept. of State talking points concerning detainees and Guantanamo. Heavily redacted.
June 15, 2006
Email
Odell C. DeHart
JoAnn J. Dolan
Apr. 25, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 2402
This email contains four attached files on UK detainees in Guantanamo. The rest of the document is heavily redacted.
June 15, 2006
Email
Brian M. Pharr
JoAnn J. Dolan | Jonathan M. Crock | Susan F. Bryant | Judith B. Cefkin | Shelia J. Peters
Feb. 26, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2403
This DOD memo discusses and addresses the legality of detaining people in Iraq after the assumption of Iraqi governmental authority on 06/30/2004.
Nov. 05, 2002 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2399
This DOD memo is a list of talking points about the release of detainees; how they may be relocated by Al Qaeda and debriefed; and how to address press inquiries about the release of detainees. For this reason, the US Gov't will not make public ...
Oct. 29, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 2400

This email between State Department officials contains several attachments concerning their transfer of detainees to Guantanamo. The document is heavily redacted.

June 15, 2006
Email
Odell C. DeHart
JoAnn J. Dolan | Eliana Davidson | Bridget A. Brink | Jeffery Casler | David T. Johnson | Geeta Pasi | Scharfej Ross-Hyams | David L. Scott
DOS | ACLU-RDI 2396

These notes are a synopsis of points the British government raised with Sec. State Powell concerning the living conditions of detainees at Guantanamo. The Notes detail talking points and matters covered in Sec. State Powell's response to the ...

June 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo, Notes
Colin L. Powell, Pierre-Richard Prosper
Apr. 29, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2397
A detainee at Guantanamo attempted suicide in his cell by hanging himself. He was rescued and lives saving measures were effective, however, the detainee suffered irreversible damage. This memo is a detail of the detainee’s condition and a ...