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 04, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2456
Letter from one DOD official to another DOD official concerning the discovery of a PowerPoint presentation containing 49 slides of pictures of abuse by US troops in Iraq in the very early phase of the war. Slides include pics of Iraqi men ...
June 30, 2006
Letter
Trent Lott
May 28, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2457
Letter is a response to questions from Senator Leahy regarding the treatment of detainees in US custody. The letter denies the use of hoods, stripping or stress positions. States that "Lt Gen. Sanchez's 05/13/2004 memo prohibits the use of ...
June 30, 2006
Letter
Patrick Leahy, Ricardo Sanchez
Stress positions, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Environmental manipulation
Aug. 12, 1949 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 2453
This is an excerpt of Articles 4 and 5 of the 1949 Geneva Convention.
Executive | ACLU-RDI 2454
Discussion of Geneva Convention. Illustrates points where Iraq has violated the Convention.
Feb. 07, 1995 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2452

This DOD Regulation was issued by the U.S. Central Command on February 7, 1995. It discusses the "policies and procedures for determining whether persons who have committed belligerent acts and come into the power of US forces are ...

June 19, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2449
DOD PowerPoint presentation on Guantanamo. Heavily redacted.
Mar. 23, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2450
This DOD memo gives information on Geneva Convention provisions and Secretary of Defense press guidance regarding photography and filming of Enemy Prisoners of War.
Nov. 03, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2451

This standard operating procedure details how the 1st marine Division is to handle detainees. It includes guidance for apprehension of groups such as religious leaders, woman and children who will not be apprehended without General's ...

June 30, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Richard F. Natonski
Mar. 24, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2447
This memo discusses the Geneva Convention, the protections it affords, proper treatment of the dead and responsibility for violations of the Convention protections.
Oct. 16, 2002 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2448
DOD PowerPoint presentation on Guantanamo's states that the facility is a "Long-term holding facility for detention of enemy combatants" and gives a brief descriptions of detainees and the initiatives being undertaken at the camp to ensure the ...