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
June 22, 2004 | CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 6609
This letter from Scott Muller explains that Jack Goldsmith's letter to George Tenet, Director of the CIA, was forwarded to the Inspector General and that his office would decide whether the suggested changes to the Special Review would be made. ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Letter
Scott W. Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith
Jack L. Goldsmith, Scott W. Muller, George J. Tenet, John L. Helgerson
Abu Zubaydah
EIT
Mar. 02, 2004 | CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 6608
A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation. The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness of detention ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Scott W. Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith
Jack L. Goldsmith, Scott W. Muller, Alberto R. Gonzales, Jay S. Bybee, John A. Rizzo
EIT, SERE, 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, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
June 16, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6607
A list of bullet points discussing legal principles applicable to the CIA's detention and interrogation of detainees, including the use of the "enhanced interrogation techniques." Many of the principles listed appear in the OLC's interrogation ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Patrick Philbin
Patrick Philbin
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
May 19, 2008 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 6606
This is a list of 3 Classified DOJ Legal Opinions released in May 2005. There are three memos from Bradbury to Rizzo on the list: (1) Re: Application of 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A to Certain Techniques that May Be Used in the Interrogation of High ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Chart/List
John A. Rizzo, Steven Bradbury
Jan. 31, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6605
This cable includes the text of the January 28, 2003 DCI approved "Guidelines on Interrogations Conducted Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of Notification of 17 September 2001". The cable also asks that all personnel involved in ...
Sept. 26, 2016
Cable
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Other
Jan. 30, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6604
This cable states that the use of EITs requires that a psychological assessment of records, made only by a staff psychologist be completed about the proposed subject before techniques are authorized, and that psychological interrogation ...
Sept. 26, 2016
Cable
EIT
July 01, 2002 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6603
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 ...
Sept. 26, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Threat, Assault/death, Mock Burial, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Other Humiliation, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity
July 01, 2002 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6602
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 ...
Sept. 26, 2016
Cable
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Abu Zubaydah
SERE, Cramped confinement, Isolation
| ACLU-RDI 6601
This paper written by James Mitchell and John Jessen discusses interrogation resistance techniques described in Al Qaeda training documents, how to recognize when these techniques are being employed, and strategies for developing countermeasures.
Sept. 26, 2016
Non-legal Memo
James Mitchell and John Jessen
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Jan. 28, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 6600
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 ...
Sept. 26, 2016
Non-legal Memo
James Pavitt
Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell
Gul Rahman
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation