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 (33)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
June 08, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4544

An OLC memo concluding that “the military has the legal authority to detain [Jose Padilla] as a prisoner captured during an international armed conflict,” and that the Posse Comitatus Act poses no bar.

Mar. 02, 2009
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
John D. Ashcroft
John D. Ashcroft, Jay S. Bybee, William J. Haynes, II, Alberto R. Gonzales, Patrick Philbin, Robert J. Delahunty, Timothy E. Flanigan
Jose Padilla
June 27, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4545

An OLC memo concluding that the “the President’s authority to detain enemy combatants, including U.S. citizens, is based on his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief” and that the Non-Detention Act cannot interfere ...

Mar. 02, 2009
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
Daniel J. Bryant
John C. Yoo, Daniel J. Bryant, Timothy E. Flanigan, William J. Haynes, II, Jay S. Bybee, Jennifer K. Elsea, Patrick Philbin, Abner J. Mikva
Jose Padilla
June 07, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4942
A detainee interviewed at Camp Delta, Guantanamo stated that approximately three to four weeks earlier, while at Camp X-Ray US soldiers entered his cell and began to beat him without cause or reason. He claims they called him a “son of a bitch” ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Isolation
June 01, 2002 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2437
Powerpoint presentation gives details of the Geneva Conventions, and the 5 S's (Search, Silence, Segregate, Safeguard and Speed to the rear).
June 12, 2002 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2037
This memo is to memorialize the training received by fifteen (15) Military Police soldiers from: 272nd MP Co. (6); 363rd MP Co. (2); and the 307th MP Co. (7) in the Use of Force and the use of a firearm, including deadly force.
June 18, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3487
FBI memo cover page re: On-site Behavioral Assessment of Interview Process at Guantanamo Bay. No additional pages attached.
Feb. 06, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Kenneth H. Senser, Thomas F. Lewis II, Pasquale D'Amuro, John S. Pistole, Andrew Arena, David W. Szady, Hector M. Pesquera, Cassandra M. Chandler
June 18, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3488
FBI memo re: Contacts made by BAU team during 05/23/02 on-site review of Guantanamo.
Feb. 06, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Michael E. Dunlavey
June 18, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3527
Memo synopsis indicates that the memo discusses the CIRG/BAU's assessment of the interview process in GTMO. Also, it reads that the has a "Copy of a Letterhead Memorandum (LHM), suitable for dissemination to outside agencies" enclosed.
Feb. 06, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Pasquale D'Amuro | John S. Pistole | Andrew Arena | Cassandra M. Chandler | Thomas F. Lewis II | David W. Szady | Kenneth H. Senser
Kenneth H. Senser, Cassandra M. Chandler, David W. Szady, Andrew Arena, John S. Pistole, Pasquale D'Amuro, Thomas F. Lewis II, Mark A. Hilts
June 05, 2002 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1867
Memo describes the observations of a FBI agent, who observed the improper handling of a detainee in an interrogation room at Camp Delta. The agent was in a video observation room and saw a detainee on his knees rubbing a cramp out of his leg ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Stress positions, Other Humiliation
June 20, 2002 | NSA | ACLU-RDI 4711
NSC Fax Cover Sheet re: Agenda for Thursday, June 20, 2002. No additional comments. No attachments.
June 08, 2005
Letter
John B. Bellinger
Eliana Davidson | Daniel Dell'Orto | Matt Vaccaro
John B. Bellinger, III, Daniel Dell'Orto, Eliana Davidson, Robert A. Spencer, Daniel P. Collins, Mary Incontro, Bruce Swartz, William Howard Taft, IV, Pierre-Richard Prosper, Elliott Abrams