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.
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 ...
An email which includes three forwarded emails about who has "ownership" of the Army investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse; an email quotes, "What a mess." The third forwarded email concerns protocols about Army CID interviewing FBI ...
An email between FBI officials which includes a forwarded email in order to show recipients how officials have, "been trying to balance the issues for personnel and the Bureau--while we've been waiting for some guidance." The forwarded email ...
An email between FBI officials which includes a forwarded email in order to show recipients how officials have, "been trying to balance the issues for personnel and the Bureau--while we've been waiting for some guidance." The forwarded email ...
The document is a redacted internal FBI email regarding allegations of abuse by private contractors at the Abu Ghurayb Prison and other detention facilities in Iraq.
The document is an internal FBI detainee interrogation report. The report is almost entirely redacted, but pertains to the interrogation of Detainee ISN 00269 at Guantanamo Bay by agents from the FBI and NCIS.
Email from Inspections Division seeking response from FBI employees who served at GTMO after 9/11/01. The email specifically requests a response from employees who "observed aggressive treatment, interrogations or interview techniques on ...
The document is the FBI Office of General Counsel response to the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General request for additional information, regarding supervisory employees in the National Security Law Branch and Counterterrorism ...
The document is a Department of the Army memorandum for the Investigative Operation Division, Headquarters, United States Army Criminal Investigative Command (USACIDC). The memorandum includes information about allegations of abuse made by a ...
The document is an internal FBI email regarding a response to a search request to re-review a list of 263 cases in order to ascertain if any of them were regarding detainee abuse allegations.
The document is a memorandum of understanding between the FBI and two redacted parties regarding the exchange of fingerprints and other biographical data for military detainees and known or suspected terrorists. The memorandum also outlines the ...
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 FBI's initiation and conduct of special inquiries and ...
The document is a statement for the record for FBI Executive Assistant Director John Pistole before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The statement discusses FBI interrogation needs and techniques for counterterrorism efforts ...
The document is an FBI cover sheet for the release of interview reports from New York pertaining to detainee ISN 661. The reports are for the Department of Defense, Criminal Investigation Task Force.
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. A member of the FBI’s CIRG ...
The document includes notes from FBI Director Robert Mueller's meeting with the SAAC Executive Council during the conference held at the FBI Headquarters from September 28 through 30, 2004. The notes detail the Council's concerns and appreciation.
The document is an email, regarding the interrogation plan for Detainee #63. The email includes information about FBI concerns about the plan and DHS methods.
This document is a memorandum establishing interrogation and counter-resistance policy for the Combined Joint Task Force Seven in Baghdad, Iraq. It encourages the segregation of detainees "to ensure the success of interrogations and to prevent ...
Email from Steven C. McCraw seeks response from employees who served at GTMO after 9/11/01 re: whether they saw aggressive treatment, interrogations or interview techniques inconsistent with FBI policy/guidelines. This email was subsequently ...
This document consists of FBI penalty guidelines, which are used to assess the proper penalty for various types of FBI misconduct. It features the an explanation and purpose of penalties, and then provides detailed instructions on different ...
This document consists of FBI penalty guidelines, which are used to assess the proper penalty for various types of FBI misconduct. It features the an explanation and purpose of penalties, and then provides detailed instructions on different ...
The document is an internal FBI email regarding the Office of Inspector General's review of the detainee issues and its request for documents pertaining to possible detainee abuse.
The document is a letter from Assistant Director Eleni P. Kalisch of the Office of Congressional Affairs to Senator Patrick Leahy, regarding Senator Leahy's claim that FBI Director Mueller withheld key information about the mistreatment of ...
The document includes sections of the FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines, including information on investigations of government employees, investigations of FBI employee misconduct, and administrative inquiries.
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 minutes, notes, memoranda, and other documents from any ...
The document includes sections of the FBI Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines, including information on the authority of a special agent, investigative responsibility, and investigative authority and the First Amendment.
The document is an internal FBI memorandum sent from the General Counsel to all divisions, regarding an appropriate course of action in response to requests received from military criminal investigative services to interview FBI personnel ...
The document is an affidavit of a New York Office FBI Special Agent, regarding his role in the interrogations of a redacted detainee. He asserts that he did not witness any abuse or mistreatment of the detainee.
The document includes information on American policies on a variety of topics, including international terrorism investigations and counterterrorism, as well as information on the FBI's international terrorism responsibilities and the ...
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 a a confidential memorandum clarifying the status of detained ...
This document is an updated interrogation Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Slayer, Iraq, updated in May 2004. It contains an interrogation code of conduct instructing interrogators to "treat detainees humanely," forbidding the hooding of ...
The document includes Part 1 of the FBI Manual of Administrative Operations and Procedures (MAOP), which addresses activities and standards of conduct. The document includes information on ethics advice and training, personal conduct regulations, ...
This document is a statement signed by an FBI Special Agent in the presence of a Supervisory Special Agent. The agent recounts their assignment by the Defense Humint Services Headquarters to lead a Humint Augmentation Team in support of a special ...
An email sent by an inspector of the Inspection Division of the Office of Inspections to a redacted list of FBI agents who conducted assignments at GTMO post 9/11/2001. The email requests the agents to respond positively or negatively if they, ...
Email by FBI Special Agent Jon E. Bibnik responds to an Inspection Division request about possible observance of "aggressive treatment, interrogations or interview techniques on GTMO detainees." Bibnik responds affirmatively and recounts an ...
A cover letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Justice providing requested material on detainee issues. The classified materials include: 304 documents pertaining GTMO, 19 ...