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.
The document is an internal FBI email, regarding the use of extreme and abusive interrogation techniques against detainees by the military as well as the procedures for reporting such techniques to the Department of Defense.
An email sent to Executive Assistant Directors and Assistant Directors at FBIHQ asking for materials relevant to the ACLU's FOIA request of documents/records created from 9/12/2004 to 5/25/2004 that pertain to the treatment of detainees held ...
The document is an internal FBI email, regarding an attachment about Guantanamo Bay and the procedure by which to report the contents of the attachment.
The document is a memorandum, regarding the re-visitation of FBI interrogation strategies employed against Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. The memorandum includes information on the differences between interrogation ...
The document is an internal FBI email sent to FBI Director Robert Mueller, including a brief synopsis of an AG briefing that covered the issues of MEK interviews and the impact of potential press on ongoing operations.
The document is an internal FBI email, regarding an attached urgent report that provides details from a military service member deployed in Iraq who observed serious physical abuses of civilian detainees in Samara, Iraq in the fall of 2003.
A chain of six emails regarding a military defense investigator's request to the FBI's Counterterrorism Division for FBI emails about detainee abuse. The investigator had been appointed to work on the defense team for one of the Abu Gharib prison ...
The document is an internal FBI email, regarding a Monday, December 13, 2004 DCI briefing. The email includes a brief synopsis of the information presented at that meeting, including updates from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Spain.
This document is a "CaseMaps Facts report" providing information on an interview with FBI's representative to CENTCOM (Army's Central Command). It provides dates and times, summaries, and sources for all statements. The interviewee states that he ...
The document is an internal FBI email regarding the Office of Inspector General's initiation of a full investigation into the FBI's handling of allegations of detainee abuse, including any FBI personnel who may have either witnessed or ...
The document is an internal FBI email sent from Eleni Kalisch to FBI Director Robert Mueller, regarding an HPSCI briefing concerning detainee interrogations. The briefing included information about the yield of information from detainee ...
A transcript of an interview with an FBI Special Agent who was part of an interviewing team at Guantanamo Bay. The transcript first notes that interviews in the evening were conducted by those who were gathering intelligence; the purpose of the ...
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI agent states that he ...
The document includes handwritten notes describing the interrogations of Detainees #63 and #682 as well as the tensions between the FBI and the military at Guantanamo Bay.
An email by FBI Agent containing a positive response to observing aggressive treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The email notes that the agent saw, "at least two individuals dressed in BDU's standing and an inmate kneeling on the floor ...
The document includes information about a document request made by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General regarding detainee issues, specifically any documents related to the complaint by an FBI agent concerning detainee ...
The document is an FBI memorandum that has been heavily redacted. The memorandum includes information about the Department of Defense Joint Task Forces, the Joint Interagency Interrogation Facility (JIIF), and five issues for consideration - ...
The document is a transcript of proceedings from the United States Senate's Committee on the Judiciary. The transcript is a record of FBI Director Robert Mueller's statement regarding FBI oversight, terrorism and other topics.
This document is an email to the FBI asking for help with a project at GTMO. The project is the build town homes with "culturally correct" decor to reward detainees who are highly cooperative. The email also states that Intel Officer Lt. Col. ...
Transcript of interview with FBI Special Agent who previously worked as a Case Agent tasked to participate in detainee interviews at Guantanamo Bay. The Agent purportedly never participated in any aggressive treatment, interrogations or interview ...
Transcript of interview with an FBI Investigative Analyst (IA) who formerly worked as a liaison between the FBI and the U.S. military during their temporary duty assignment at Guantanamo Bay. The IA was not a member of any interview or ...
The document is an internal FBI email regarding a Washington Post report in which it was alleged that the FBI was involved in abuses at the Abu Ghuraib Prison.
This document is an internal memo sent to the FBI Director's Office from the Office of Inspections as a request for designation of the investigation into detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay as an INSD Special Inquiry. The document notes that out of ...
An email including a forwarded chain of emails regarding FBI agents who have been listed as witnesses in an investigation surrounding allegations of prisoner abuse. The chain shows confusion as to whether or not the agents participated in ...
An email including a chain of forwarded emails regarding an FBI agent who received anonymous verbal harassment for reporting information about detainee abuse to an ongoing IG investigation. The officials seem confused by the jurisdictional lines ...
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. After reading the agent's ...
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 134 released pages for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 531 released pages for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
An email by an FBI agent regarding an observation of a non-FBI approved tactic being used on a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The FBI agent reports observing a detainee sitting on the floor of a room with an Israeli flag draped around him, loud ...
The document includes information about a document request made by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General for FBI documents regarding detainee issues, specifically Department of Defense forms signed by FBI agents prior to ...
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 0 released pages for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
This email provides a consideration that FBI officials reiterate FBI personnel's responsibility to report observations of misconduct prior to their deployment in order to avoid failure to report, and, thus possible misconduct and/or criminal ...
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 1 released page for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
Individual FBI agents who have submitted negitive EC's to the Inspection Division must also submit a brief negitive email to the Unit Chief to reconcile issues at Guantanamo
This document is a heavily redacted sworn statement by an FBI Special Agent as part of "an administrative inquiry regarding an allegation that SA [redacted] engaged in possible prisoner abuse while on military deployment in Iraq."
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 872 released pages for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
The document is an internal FBI email regarding the procedure used for handling abuse allegations made by detainees. These allegations are handed over to the Department of Defense for investigation.
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 847 released documents for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
This document is a cover letter to the ACLU enclosing 977 released pages for a FOIA request. The letter also identifies exemptions made in documents under the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA), Title 5, United States Code, Section ...
The document is an internal FBI email regarding the release of the name of the agent who stated that there was an executive order dealing with treatment of Iraq prisoners as well as a document that discusses DoD interrogators misrepresenting ...
The document is series of an internal FBI emails regarding whether any FBI personnel had firsthand knowledge of any abuse of detainees at Abu Ghuraib Prison. The emails conclude that no FBI personnel had any such knowledge.