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 (4)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
| ACLU-RDI 6736
This CIA list includes Abu Zubaydah's reported terrorist activity, injuries at the time of capture, highlights from reporting, legal authority for interrogation techniques used, and interrogation techniques used on Abu Zubaydah.
Dec. 20, 2016
Chart/List
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Waterboarding, Face slap or insult slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Use of water, Physical assault
June 16, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4564

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 ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Chart/List, 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
| ACLU-RDI 4518
A heavily redacted checklist, references waterboarding.
May 27, 2008
Chart/List
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
| ACLU-RDI 4519
This document is comprised of two parts, a checklist and a draft of a report. The document is heavily redacted, but references waterboarding.
May 27, 2008
Chart/List
EIT, Waterboarding, Use of water