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.
CIA press release States that May 2004 New Yorker story on a "DOD/CIA program to abuse and humiliate Iraqi prisoners" is "fundamentally wrong" and that spokesman has no awareness of CIA officials who could have confirmed ...
Senator Cornyn fowarded correspondence he recieved from one of his constituents asking: "I read a story about 3 CIA personnel who may have killed three prisoners. The Agency submitted their reports to the Justice Dept. Interrogations of ...
Email includes news articles about high level detainees, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah and the "harsh" interrogation methods the CIA employs. The email includes another article, which reports specific accounts of abuse.
This DOS Cable discusses a visit to a detention facility in Afghanistan. It explains that there was a previous issue at the facility of overcrowding and lack of resources, but that the current climate is better. Also, the cable notes that the ...
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 ...
Translated Interview of Guantanamo detainee re: conditions/treatment at Guantanamo.
The detainee stated he was beaten unconscious approximately three or four weeks ago when he was still at Camp X-Ray. Stated that an unknown number of guards ...
This State Department cable provides talking points concerning informing foreign governments about the transfer of their citizens/nationals to Guantanamo after they were picked-up on the battle field of Afghanistan. The information is on the ...
Memorandum appointing Brigadier General John T. Furlow as the investigating officer for an AR 15-6 investigation into allegations made by the FBI regarding detainee abuse at Guantanamo. Allegations include the use of dogs, impersonation of FBI ...
CNN news story reporting that International Committee of the Red Cross concerned that U.S. authorities were not providing information on the identities or whereabouts of certain detainees. Article references Taguba report on "ghost detainees."
Summarized witness statement of a Second Lieutenant stationed at Guantanamo between February and November 2003. When asked about various allegations of abuse, the 2LT states that they had no personal knowledge of abuse or the specific allegations ...
Printout of Newsday article (AP News) entitled "Guantanamo Returnees' Treatment Criticized." Gareth Peirce, who represented Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul, said that the Metropolitan Police mistreated the British men arrested upon their return to ...
Summarized witness statement of a Sargent who was stationed at Guantanamo from August 2002 to February 2003 as an interrogator, however the Sargent stated that her “time was spent reviewing Memorandums for Record and draft interrogation plans ...
Summarized witness statement of an Ensign stationed at Guantanamo from July 2002 to October 2002. She was a team leader for interrogators. Asked about various allegations of detainee abuse, she indicated awareness of the use of loud music; ...
Memorandum appointing Lieutenant General Randall M. Schmidt as the senior investigating officer for the AR 15-6 investigation into allegations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo. His involvement is needed for interviews of officers senior in rank to ...
Heavily redacted memorandum regarding a detainee. The memo mentions the detainee's arrest in Mauritania in 2001 and eventual transfer to Bagram Air Force Base.
Human Rights Watch claims that the detention facilities being operated by the CIA are un-lawful and requests to visit the detention facilities in Afghanistan. CIA General Counsel Scott W. Muller replies that the CIA is operating lawfully and ...
Medical Exam of a detainee at Guantanamo. Heavily redacted medical report from January 16, 2003. The report concludes that the detainee has suffered no injuries or trauma.
The index lists this document as: Shift Log 17 Dec 02. Heavily redacted and the first page appears to be missing. The readable parts of the document state that the detainee was seen by medical personnel; he was given food & water;was taken to ...
The index lists this document as: Memo for the Record dtd 21 Dec 02. Heavily redacted. Talks about medics taking vital signs of detainees. All normal, but "needed to drink water".
The index lists this document as: Shift Log 23 dec 02. Heavily redacted. "Detainee seen by medic at 21:30 hours. His vitals were normal. Detainee taken to the latrine and exercised a couple of times during the night".
The index lists this document as: Memo for the Record 23 Dec 02. Heavily redacted. "Detainee seen by the medic, vitals normal. Also taken to the latrine and exercised".
Summarized witness statement of a Lt. Col. who was the former Interrogation Control Element (ICE) Chief at Guantanamo for the first week in December 2002 and re-deployed at end of June 2003. When asked about detainee abuse alleged to have ...
In a summarized witness statement, the Joint Interrogation Group (JIG) Chief at Guantanamo Bay discusses a variety of incidents of abuse alleged to have taken place under his command. With respect to interrogators' impersonation of FBI agents, he ...
This investigative report was generated by the Criminal Investigative Task Force (CITF) Report of Investigative Activity and the interview of the detainee at Camp Delta was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Navy Naval ...
Memo is significantly redacted, however, it includes the interview of a Camp Delta detainee. The detainee reported that while aboard a plane heading to Bagram, Afghanistan, he was struck in the mouth by a FBI agent. He also reported being beaten ...
Advises that effective immediatelly, the Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) will not request, endorse or in any way participate in the placement of detainees in maximum security facility.
The index lists this document as: Memo for the Record dtd 17 July 03. The heavily redacted memo mentions the detainee's arrest in Mauritania in 2001 and eventual transfer to Bagram Air Force Base.
Heavily redacted memorandum regarding a detainee and mentions the detainee's arrest in Mauritania in 2001 and eventual transfer to Bagram Air Force Base, as well as the opening of the interrogation with the detainee being asked if he was hungry; ...
This one page document is listed in the index as: Maj [redacted] Sworn Statement, but this heavily redacted document appears to be more like the Shift Log for Detainees at Guantanamo rather than a Sworn Statement. The document reads as follows: ...
The index lists this document as: Shift Log 20 Dec 02. The document goes over the times the detainee was being offered water (refusing it); going to the latrine; medical check-ups and being exercised. Heavily redacted. Talks about detainee ...
The index lists this document as: Memo for the Record. Heavily redacted. The readable parts state: "Medical representative felt it necessary to give the source an IV because the last medical check showed the source was becoming dehydrated". "The ...
Heavily redacted memo from Joint Task force 160 requesting Joint Detention Operations Group support for an operation. The email authjor states that "This request has been reviewed by my Staff Judge Advocate and determined to be legally sufficient".
Summarized witness statement of Sargent stationed at Guantanamo from August 2002 to February 2003. She was an interrogator with the Gulf States Team. The Sargent states that she may have touched a detainee or put my hand close to a detainee's ...
This summarized statement of a female Sergeant, who served as an interrogator at Guantanamo between August 2002 and February 2003 on the Saudi Arabian Team. She states that she was aware that loud music; yelling; temp manipulation (using air ...