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
Dec. 30, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4585

This document was originally released on June 1, 2005 (ACLU-RDI 3547).  This OLC memo supercedes the August 2002 memo interpreting the anti-torture statute. The memo disagrees with the previous memo's conclusions that torture is ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
James B. Comey
Daniel B. Levin, James B. Comey, George W. Bush
Dec. 30, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4586

A background paper on the CIA's combined use of interrogation techniques, addressed to Daniel Levin, Acting Assistant Attorney General. The document states that "Effective interrogation is based on the concept of using both physical and ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Non-legal Memo, Letter
Daniel B. Levin
Daniel B. Levin
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
Dec. 30, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6064
The document is an internal FBI email regarding the Office of Inspector General's initiation of a full investigation into the FBI's handling of allegations of detainee abuse, including any FBI personnel who may have either witnessed or ...
Email
John S. Pistole
Robert S. Mueller
John S. Pistole, Robert S. Mueller, Gary M. Bald, Valerie E. Caproni, Willie T. Hulon, Cassandra M. Chandler, Eleni P. Kalisch, Toni M. Fogle, Thomas J. Harrington
Dec. 30, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6052
The document is a heavily redacted daily situation report from the Iraqi Task Force, detailing personnel numbers and status as well as a variety of figures related to detainees during the reporting period - including captures, transfers, and ...
Dec. 30, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 6390
This document is the first page of a memorandum concerning government responsibilities relating to torture under the U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT) and 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A.
June 15, 2011
Legal Memo
James B. Comey
Dec. 30, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6572
This December 30, 2004 OLC memo from Daniel Levin interprets the federal criminal prohibition against torture. This memo supersedes the August 2002 memorandum ("Standards of Conduct under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340–2340A") in its entirety.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
Deputy Attorney General
Dec. 29, 2004 | DOA | SOUTHCOM | ACLU-RDI 2324
Memorandum appointing Brigadier General John T. Furlow as the investigating officer for an AR 15-6 investigation into allegations made by the FBI regarding detainee abuse at Guantanamo. Allegations include the use of dogs, impersonation of FBI ...
June 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Bantz J. Craddock
John T. Furlow
Bantz J. Craddock, John T. Furlow
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity
Dec. 29, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3751
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter, Judicial
Margaret P. Grafeld
Margaret P. Grafeld
Dec. 29, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3857
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter, Judicial
Margaret P. Grafeld
Margaret P. Grafeld
Dec. 29, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3970
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter, Judicial
Margaret P. Grafeld
Margaret P. Grafeld