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 (1042)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 18, 2015 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6381
This document is a lengthy email from a FBI agent who repeatedly expresses discomfort with FBI interrogation methods. He reports being "placed in a very precarious situation" and "asked to do something I fest was wrong given what FBI agents can ...
Sept. 30, 2013 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6080
An email regarding the interview of an FBI Special Agent by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service/IG as an witness to abuse of a detainee by Special Forces in Afghanistan. The agent did not witness any abuse and provided a statement and other ...
Apr. 27, 2009
Email
Mark J. Mershon | Robert D. Grant | Toni M. Fogle
Mark J. Mershon, Robert D. Grant, Toni M. Fogle
May 04, 2010 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6424
This document is a series of emails discussing whether there has been guidance given to FBI agents in GTMO or Iraq about when they should stand clear because of the Department of Defense's interrogation tactics or notify an authority if the ...
Dec. 07, 2010
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Jan. 05, 2010 | ACLU-RDI 6614
This is a January 5, 2010 memorandum written by David Margolis, Associate Deputy Attorney General, to the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General. It contains Margolis' review of OPR's findings of misconduct against Yoo and Bybee. ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Non-legal Memo, Oversight Report
David Margolis
David Margolis, Jay S. Bybee, John C. Yoo, Steven Bradbury, Frank Wolf, Michael Mukasey, Mark Filip, Alberto R. Gonzales, Daniel B. Levin, Jack L. Goldsmith, Patrick Philbin, Adam Ciongoli, John D. Ashcroft, John A. Rizzo, Michael Chertoff
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming, Other
June 11, 2009 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4558

An OLC memo withdrawing the interrogation memo of July 20, 2007.

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
David J. Barron
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
David J. Barron, Eric H. Holder, Jr., John A. Rizzo, Steven G. Bradbury
June 11, 2009 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6577
This June 11, 2009 OLC memo from David Barron states the withdrawal of an additional OLC opinion regarding CIA interrogation methods. The decision to withdraw was made in connection with the consideration of this opinion for possible public release.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
David J. Barron
Attorney General
David J. Barron
Apr. 15, 2009 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6575
This April 15, 2009 OLC memo from David Barron states the withdrawal of four previous OLC opinions regarding CIA interrogation methods. The decision to withdraw the four opinions was made in connection with the consideration of these opinions for ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
David J. Barron
Attorney General
Jan. 15, 2009 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4547

An OLC memo stating that "the purpose of this memorandum is to confirm that certain propositions stated in several opinions issued by the Office of Legal Counsel in 2001-2003 respecting the allocation of authorities between the President ...

Mar. 02, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
Steven G. Bradbury, William J. Haynes, II, Jay S. Bybee, Daniel J. Bryant, Patrick Philbin, John C. Yoo, Alberto R. Gonzales, Edward M. Kennedy, Richard J. Durbin, John B. Bellinger, III, C. Kevin Marshall, Bradley T. Smith, David S. Kris
Oct. 06, 2008 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4546

An OLC memo advising “that caution should be exercised before relying in any respect” on John C. Yoo’s October 23, 2001 memo, Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the United States. ...

Mar. 02, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
Steven G. Bradbury, John C. Yoo, Alberto R. Gonzales, William J. Haynes, II, Robert J. Delahunty
Feb. 22, 2007 | CID | ACLU-RDI 4537

This CID Report investigates numerous allegations of abuse that occurred in September and November of 2003 in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib Prison. Included in the file is the testimony of detainee victims and members of the 372nd Military Police ...

Nov. 05, 2008
Investigative File (CID)
Habibullah, Dilawar
Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Sexual, Physical assault, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation