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 (43)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 27, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6543
This email from Jack Goldsmith to Scott Muller discusses the Inspector General Report concerning the CIA's enhanced interrogation techniques.
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
Scott W. Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith, Scott W. Muller
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
May 27, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6560
This letter is from Jack Goldsmith to Scott Muller stating that he received a copy of the Inspector General Report on the CIA Enhanced Interrogation Program and is concerned about how these techniques are applied in practice.
Letter
Jack L. Goldsmith
Scott W. Muller
John A. Rizzo, Scott W. Muller, Jack L. Goldsmith
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding
Sept. 06, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6561
This letter from Daniel Levin to John Rizzo is the Office of Legal Counsel's response to the proposed use of twelve interrogation techniques during the interrogation of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and whether or not these techniques would violate U.S. ...
Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo, Daniel B. Levin
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
EIT, Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
Jan. 21, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2752

Refers to Iraq matter. All content redacted.

Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
David E. Nahmias
Jack L. Goldsmith, David E. Nahmias
Jan. 21, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2753

Refers to mistake of law. All other content redacted.

Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
David E. Nahmias
Jack L. Goldsmith, David E. Nahmias
July 14, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2757
Email from Terese L. McHenry re: unclassified version of CRM comments on OLC opinion forwarded to David E. Nahmias by Jack L. Goldsmith. All other contents redacted.
Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
David E. Nahmias
Jack L. Goldsmith, David E. Nahmias, Teresa L. McHenry, Laura H. Parsky, Barry Sabin, Michael J. Mullaney, Ronnie Edelman
June 02, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2772
An email distributing "AG talking points on interrogations" in anticipation of a meeting. An attachment is included but not provided with the document.
Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Steven G. Bradbury
Patrick Rowan | David E. Nahmias | Peter B. Owen | William Moschella | Jack L. Goldsmith | Patrick Philbin | Daniel J. Bryant | Daniel B. Levin | Crystal Roberts | Sean McLaughlin | Rena Comisac | Robert B. Parmiter | Renee Lerner | Rebecca Seidel
Steven G. Bradbury, Patrick Rowan, David E. Nahmias, Peter B. Owen, William E. Moschella, Jack L. Goldsmith, Patrick Philbin, Daniel J. Bryant, Daniel B. Levin, Crystal Roberts, Sean McLaughlin, Judith S. Garrett, Thomas R. Kane, Julie E. Samuels, Rena Comisac, Renee Lerner, Paul P. Colborn, David Blake, Rebecca Seidel, Robert B. Parmiter, Patrick Rowan
Dec. 30, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 3547
Department of Justice Office of Legal Council on Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A. This memo superceding the August 2002 memo interpreting the anti-torture statute. The memo disagrees with the previous memo's ...
June 01, 2005
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
James B. Comey
Daniel B. Levin, James B. Comey, George W. Bush
Sept. 02, 2004 | FBI | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4883
The memo discusses the result of their investigation/survey. It states that 9 FBI employees, of the 532 who were assigned to Guantanamo after 9/11, observed aggressive mistreatment, interrogations and interview techniques of GTMO detainees. ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File
Bruce J. Gebhardt
Bruce J. Gebhardt, Valerie E. Caproni
Sept. 23, 2004 | FBI | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4884
Memo discusses the result of the Office of Inspections special inquiry into abuse of detainees at Guantanamo after September 11, 2001. The office sent a survey to FBI employees who were assigned to Guantanamo after 9/11 requesting them to ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File
Valerie E. Caproni | Thomas J. Harrington
Valerie E. Caproni, Donald W. Thompson, Jr, Thomas J. Harrington, Robert D. Grant