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)

This memo gives detailed description of Enemy Prisoners of War and Detainee categories, from Category A (High Level) to Category D (no information of intelligence value).
Army Detainee Processing Checklist. Lists Packet Requirements, along with "New Guidance from Ironhorse" and instructions to "Think of detainee's packet like it is a court case?"
Army Memo from General Odierno re: Detainee Collection Point Access Control Guidance. Limits outside access to detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross, legal representatives and certain members of the US/Coalition Forces
Apr. 06, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Raymond Odierno
Raymond T. Odierno
Geneva Convention Treatment of Prisoners of War August 12, 1949.
Army Memo from Provost Marshall re: Guidelines for the Interrogation of Prisoners. This memo lays out the prohibition on striking of prisoners by interrogators. Holds Military Police (MP) solely responsible for all actions and deems them ...
Army Memo on Processing Detainees
Army Detainee Packet Checklist
Art. 32 investigation. Gives an account of an incident of abuse where an Iraqi guard was placed at gunpoint and beaten by US soldiers. Recommends that SSG McKenzie be charged with Cruelty and Maltreatment and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. It ...
Apr. 06, 2005
Investigative File
Martin E. Dempsey, John C. McKenzie
Court Martial Records of SPC Megan Ambuhl, who did not participate in abuse of detainees, but pled guilty to Dereliction of Duty for not reporting the activities of MP and MI personnel at Abu Ghraib Prison. She was sentenced to forfeiture of 1/2 ...
In October 2003, Specialist Cruz participated in the abuse of detainees in the Hard Site at Abu Ghraib. Spc. Cruz and others ordered three (3) detainees to strip naked. The detainees were handcuffed together with metal handcuffs "to mess with ...
Apr. 06, 2005
UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Armin J. Cruz
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual, General, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Forced physical training