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 (26)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
July 13, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 6291
The document is a memorandum from the Department of Defense, regarding approved methods of interrogation. The document includes information on documents related to the Administration's interrogation policies, a congressional subpoena proposed by ...
June 15, 2011
Non-legal Memo
Carl Levin, John Warner, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein, Alberto R. Gonzales, John D. Ashcroft, George Bush, Jay S. Bybee, John C. Yoo, William J. Haynes, II, Mary Walker, James T. Hill, Robert J. Delahunty, Colin L. Powell, William Howard Taft, IV, Antonio Taguba, Patrick Philbin, James C. Ho, Daniel J. Bryant, Ricardo Sanchez, Marc Warren
Apr. 30, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5104
CIA copy of a New Yorker article tracing the responsibility for American soldiers brutalizing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib.
Mar. 15, 2013
Other
Janis Leigh Karpinski, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba, Ivan L. Frederick, II, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Javal Sean Davis, Megan M. Ambuhl, Sabrina D. Harman, Jeremy C. Sivits, Lynndie Rana England, Joseph M. Darby, Scott Bobeck, Jerry Phillabaum, Donald J. Ryder, Jason Kennel, Thomas Pappas, Steven Jordan, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ricardo Sanchez
EIT, Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Jan. 20, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 5052
This article describes inquires by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division and the Pentagon into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.
Mar. 15, 2013
Other
Ricardo Sanchez, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Donald J. Ryder
Other
May 24, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 5047

This May 24, 2004 Newsweek article discusses the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. It describes legal justifications for the Bush administration's interrogation program.

Mar. 15, 2013
Other
George W. Bush, Jane Harman, Lindsey Graham, Larry DiRita, Donald H. Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Cofer Black, Colin L. Powell, John C. Yoo, William Howard Taft, IV, Alberto R. Gonzales, Rick Baccus, Richard B. Myers, William J. Haynes, II, Geoffrey D. Miller, Stephen A. Cambone, William G. Boykin, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Paul Wayne Bergrin, Ricardo Sanchez
Physical assault
May 05, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4271
Email from Sara Stryker to Jeremy Caddel re: Excerpt from Secretary's Walk-out with Haitian Interim Prime Minister. Sec. Powell received questions on the 60 Minutes segment on the Abu Ghraib prison abuse; Iraqi security; and the return of Iraqi ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Email
Sara A. Stryker
Sara A. Stryker, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Ricardo Sanchez
June 23, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3849
Emails discuss the Department of Defenses' recent release of documents, the documents apparently explained the types of interrogation techniques the U.S. employed in Guantanamo. However, the documents are being criticized as insufficient. The ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Ed Cummings
JoAnn J. Dolan | Todd F. Buchwald | Joshua L. Dorosin | Steven A. Solomon | David Kaye
Edward R. Cummings, JoAnn J. Dolan, Todd F. Buchwald, Joshua L. Dorosin, Steven A. Solomon, David A. Kaye, Charles L. Daris, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Ricardo Sanchez
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Nudity
DOS | ACLU-RDI 3828

Email from Russ K. LaMotte, emailed a transcript of an April 20, 2004 Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Hearing on Iraq and Afghanistan to other DOS officials. The hearing transcript is included; the theme is broad, it discusses the ...

Email, Interview (Transcript)
Russell K. LaMotte
Joshua L. Dorosin | James H. Thessin | Todd F. Buchwald | Stephen D. Mathias
Russell K. LaMotte, Joshua L. Dorosin, James H. Thessin, Todd F. Buchwald, D. Stephen Mathias, Carl Levin, Monica J. Tillery, Marc Grossman, Frank E. Schmelzer , John Warner, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard B. Myers, George W. Bush, Dov S. Zakeim, Eric Shinseki, John Dimitri Negroponte, Tommy Franks, Raymond T. Odierno, John R. Batiste, Jack Keane, Richard B. Myers, Mick Kicklighter, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr., Jay Garner, Alan Wayne Allard, John McCain, Richard A. Clarke, Edward M. Kennedy, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Schoomaker, Joe Lieberman, Sue Collins, Jeff Sessions, David Petraeus, John P. Abizaid, Jack Reed, Ricardo Sanchez, John Cornyn, Ben Nelson, Karl Winfrid Eikenberry, Elizabeth Dole, Mark Dayton, John Ensign, Daniel Akaka, Evan Bayh, Hillary Clinton, L. Paul Bremer, James Steele
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
May 25, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2248
Emails discuss notes from a Technical Integration Group Engaged in Research (TIGER) Team meeting. The email mentions that Lieutenant Kieth Alexander thinks there may be a pattern between critical events and abuses (e.g. riots-abuses; ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
Donald J. Ryder, Keith B. Alexander, Donald H. Rumsfeld, James A. Coggin, Antonio Taguba, James R. Schlesinger, Antonio Taguba, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Ricardo Sanchez, George W. Casey, Jr.
Aug. 09, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2210

Email includes a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Detainee Operations Summary," which outlines different events surrounding detainee abuse cases, including Private First Class England's pre-trial investigation.

Feb. 15, 2006
Email
Lynndie Rana England, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, George R. Fay, Joel F. Hefley , Barbara A. Mikulski, Tina Ballard, Keith B. Alexander, Gregory Meeks, Henry A. Waxman, Chris Geren, Michael D. Maples, Ron Lee Wyden, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Sabrina D. Harman, Ricardo Sanchez, Richard B. Cheney, Edward L. Richmond, Richard X. McGraw, Paul Wolfowitz, James R. Schlesinger
Nagem Sadoon Hatab , Naeem Sadun Hatab
May 25, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2132
Emails discuss a meeting with Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, to discuss the following: detainee deaths, homicides and investigations, Red Cross issues, Migration of interrogation techniques and interrogations (GTMO - Baghram - Iraq), ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
Donald J. Ryder
James A. Coggin, Keith B. Alexander, Antonio Taguba, Donald J. Ryder, George W. Casey, Jr., Janis Leigh Karpinski, Ricardo Sanchez, James R. Schlesinger, Donald H. Rumsfeld