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.
This document (identical to ACLU-RDI 4590, 4592, and 4593) is an undated draft memo from the OLC analyzing whether the CIA interrogation program would violate Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture. The document argues that they do not ...
This document (identical to ACLU-RDI 4589, 4592, and 4593) is an undated draft memo from the OLC analyzing whether the CIA interrogation program would violate Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture. The document argues that they do not ...
This document (identical to ACLU-RDI 4589, 4590, and 4593) is an undated draft memo from the OLC analyzing whether the CIA interrogation program would violate Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture. The document argues that they do not ...
This document (identical to ACLU-RDI 4589, 4590, and 4592) is an undated draft memo from the OLC analyzing whether the CIA interrogation program would violate Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture. The document argues that they do not ...
This document is an undated draft memorandum analyzing whether the McCain Amendment would prevent the CIA from using its "enhanced interrogation techniques." The memo concludes that the McCain Amendment would not do so because (1) ...
Summary of OLC legal advice to the Counsel to the President, the CIA, and the DoD regarding the CIA's and DoD's interrogation programs. [OLC Vaughn Index # 159]
An undated draft memo analyzing whether the CIA's detention and interrogation program violates the Convention Against Torture, and concluding that it does not. The memo acknowledges that it is a "close question," but concludes that, ...
An OLC summary of three OLC opinions issued to the CIA in May 2005 regarding the legality of the CIA's interrogation program. Those three opinions are listed as "Related Documents." [OLC Vaughn Index # 164]
This June 20, 2003 email from [redacted] to [redacted] re: Re: RDG Tasking for IC Psychologists Jessen and Mitchell, contains comments on the tasking for IC psychologists, Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. [Redacted] expresses concern that Mitchell ...
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This document is a fax from [redacted], [redacted] Legal Group, DCI Counterterrorist Center, CIA to Steve Bradbury, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, containing answers composed by the CIA' s Office of Medical Services to the ...
This memorandum from Assistant Attorney General John Bybee to John Rizzo provides the Office of the Assistant Attorney General's view on whether certain proposed conduct during the interrogation of al Qaeda Operative Abu Zubaydah would violate ...
Almost entirely redacted document entitled "Proposal for an enhanced interrogation strategy in the War on Terrorism." The only page which is not entirely redacted is an outline of the team responsible for Abu Zubaydah's interrogation.
This June 2002 cable reports on a meeting held to discuss the next phase of the Abu Zubaydah interrogation. Attendees include psychologist James Mitchell. At the meeting, it was agreed upon that Abu Zubaydah was withholding information on direct ...
This CIA cable requests SERE psychologists' comments on the proposed enhanced interrogation techniques waterboarding and mock burial for the next interrogation of Abu Zubaydah. The cable specifically asks for the psychologists' comments on the ...
This CIA document contains USG's plan to obtain intelligence more quickly from unlawful combatants through interrogation. The plan discusses the current CTC interrogation team for Abu Zubaydah and the plan to train more CIA officers to deploy ...
This e-mail from an anonymous source to James Mitchell expresses interest in training with Mitchell and Bruce Jessen for future interrogations and discusses psychological techniques from Mitchell and Jessen's recent paper presented at a conference.
This document is a CIA Memo drafted for the Deputy Director for Operations via the Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Counterintelligence. The previous release of this document (on June 13, 2016) included more redactions such as Bruce ...
This memo describes the "key" role that contract interrogators/debriefers play in the CIA's Rendition and Detention Program. The memo states that before September 11, 2001 the CIA had no resident expertise in interrogation, and so they sought ...
This National Security Council memo discusses the use of the CIA's proposed EITs in the interrogation of high-value al Qaeda detainees. The memo divides the proposed EITs into two categories, "conditioning" and "corrective" and concludes that ...
This legal memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo examines the application of the War Crimes Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to certain techniques that may be used by the CIA to interrogate ...
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
Regulations establishing responsibilities, policies and procedures for training soldiers in the Code of Conduct and training in survival, evasion, resistance and escape techniques.
This 2002 cable requests that IC Psychologist James Mitchell remain at the undisclosed location in order to provide continued assistance in the Abu Zubaydah interrogation. The cable states that Mitchell's role is "key" and they need him there to ...
This April 2002 cable is redacted almost in full with the exception of a paragraph that questions the effectiveness of the confinement box on Abu Zubaydah, recognizing that it had a history of demonstrated effectiveness in the SERE program.
This message includes notes on the attached revised interrogation plan, and discusses the role of the CIA's Operational Assessment Division in implementing this plan.
This June 18, 2002 cable details the message that the interrogation team delivered to Abu Zubaydah, which is redacted, the interrogation techniques used on him and his reactions to them, and an assessment of his resistance posture. The cable ...
This CIA cable discusses the strategy for the post-isolation phase of the Abu Zubaydah interrogation and provides details on Abu Zubaydah's current status. The cable notes that the post-isolation strategy may include time in the "confinement ...
This July 2002 cable is a request for guidance from headquarters on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. The cable expresses hesitation about using these techniques on subjects being held in solitary confinement without legal ...
This cable provides formal authorization to proceed with portions of the next phase of Abu Zubaydah's interrogation, which include "more aggressive techniques" in order to obtain information, that the interrogation team concludes he is ...
An OLC memo concluding that the CIA’s proposed interrogation plan for Abu Zubaydah — which contemplates methods including “insects placed in a confinement box” and “the waterboard” — does not violate ...
This August 1, 2002 OLC memo from Jay Bybee to John Rizzo discusses whether certain proposed conduct in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah would violate the prohibition against torture found at Section 2340A of title 18 of the U.S. Code. The memo ...
This email chain includes two cables discussing the status of Abu Zubaydah's interrogation and describing his condition. The first cable is dated August 2, 2002 and describes Abu Zubaydah's condition on day 45 of the isolation phase. It also ...
This August 3, 2002 cable provides authorization to implement more aggressive techniques in the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, including the use of the water board and mock burial, as described in this cable. The cable also provides information ...
This cable describes the enhanced interrogation techniques that interrogation teams can employ, pending approval and sets forth federal law which limits the use of these techniques by U.S. government personnel and requires that interrogation ...
This is a moderately redacted cable which summarizes the mechanics and legal basis for use of enhanced interrogation techniques on detainees. The cable states that "our attorneys have presented our legal analysis to the legal adviser to the NSC, ...
This memo is to provide guidance and clarity as to the interview & interrogation techniques permitted to be used on Guantanamo detainees. There is a limiting principle outlined and general observations on the use and effectiveness of SERE as a ...
This is an email (with sender and receiver redacted) sending a final draft of the CIA High Value Target Interrogation and Exploitation (HVTIE) Team Training document. The postscript note in the email mentions Mitchell and Jessen by name and ...
This e-mail includes a draft of interrogation training documents for a CIA course with a note concerning Dr. James Mitchell and Dr. Bruce Jessen's role in an upcoming presentation. The draft notes are redacted and are labeled "CIA High Value ...
This document is a CIA Memo drafted for the Deputy Director for Operations via the Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Counterintelligence. The memo contains background information related to the treatment and condition of detainees as it ...
This internal CIA email correspondence from June 2003 discusses the potential tasking for IC psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen as well as concerns about their role as contractors.