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 18, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3608
No relevant text.
Mar. 13, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3604
In response to allegations made by non-governmental agencies, the IACHR issued to the DOS a Request for Precautionary Measures, asking that U.S. to have the legal status of Guantanamo detainees determined by a competent tribunal, and also ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Notes
Mary P. Stickles, Francis M. Gaffney, Frank E. Schmelzer
DOS | ACLU-RDI 3605
Memo states that a number of non-governmental agencies filed a petition before the IACHR, in which they alleged that the U.S. violated international law by mistreating Guantanamo detainees. In response to the allegations, the IACHR issued to the ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
William Howard Taft, IV | Otto J. Reich | Roger F. Noriega
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, William Howard Taft, IV, Otto J. Reich, Roger F. Noriega, Frank E. Schmelzer , Mary P. Stickles
May 14, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3606
DOS Action Slip has a post it message that reads: “S/WCI is the appropriate office for Guantanamo letters, Jeff Kern 78089”
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Jeffrey Kern
May 10, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3601
DOS Letter to U.S. Representative, Ike Skelton, regarding the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) report, which contains allegations of detainee mistreatment in Iraq.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, Isaac Newton Skelton IV, Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, P. Michael McKinley, William E. Landfair, Paul V. Kelly, Elizabeth H. Richard
Jan. 07, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 3602
Letter and fax cover sheet from Amnesty International's Program Director, Susan Lee, to Colin L. Powell. The letter refers to another letter that discusses the treatment of Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects in U.S. custody in Afghanistan [that letter ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Frank E. Schmelzer
Dec. 03, 2001 | ACLU-RDI 3603
Letter from John Walker Lindh's attorney, James J. Brosnahan, requesting information on the location of his client, detained enemy combatant, John Walker Lindh. Mr. Brosnahan states in his letter that he needs the appropriate government official ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell, John D. Ashcroft, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George J. Tenet, Robert M. McNamara, Jr.
John Walker Lindh
June 21, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3599
DOS Cable from the Kuwait Embassy to Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell, regarding a Kuwaiti citizen(s) being held by the Coalition in Iraq.
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Frank C. Urbancic, Jr., Natalie E. Brown
July 15, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3600
DOS Cable discusses the transfer for release of detainees at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). It states that the detainee's host governments are willing to accept the nationals. The names and countries of the detainees are listed, but redacted.
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Stephanie T. Williams, James A. McAtamney, Elizabeth H. Richard, Ronald W. Miller, Frank E. Schmelzer , Karen L. Hecker, Carol T. Santos, JoAnn J. Dolan
June 13, 2004 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 3597
This is an article published in the Agence France-Presse concerning the release from Guantanamo of twenty-three (23) Afghanis back to Afghanistan and their journey back to their homes.