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 (4791)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 25, 2002 | NSC | ACLU-RDI 4718
National Security Council Fax Cover Sheet with the comment "Here is an Advanced Copy of the Memorandum That Will Be Sent to Your Principals Later This Afternoon." No further comments. No attachments.
June 08, 2005
Letter
John B. Bellinger
William Howard Taft, IV | Jane Dalton | James H. Thessin
John B. Bellinger, III, William Howard Taft, IV, James H. Thessin, Jane Dalton
Feb. 07, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4719
Email chain regarding the White House announcement on February 7, 2002 about the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo and corresponding talking points. The memo states that the detainees are illegal combatants, and not Prisoners of War (POWs). ...
June 08, 2005
Email
David W. Bowker
Dan B. Smith | David J. Wolff | Kevin M. O'Reilly | Karen Decker | Cheryl Steele | Amy W. Schedlbauer | LaVonya M. Hayward | William B. Wood
David W. Bowker, David J. Wolff, Daniel B. Smith, Kevin M. O'Reilly, Karen Decker, Cheryl Steele, Amy W. Schedlbauer, LaVonya M. Hayward, William B. Wood
DOS | ACLU-RDI 4722
This document consists of seven (7) fax cover sheets from the State Department to State Department Officials concerning Prosecution and Detention of Al-Qaeda and Taliban Detainees. No attachments or details of the underlying fax documents.
June 08, 2005
Letter
Evan T. Bloom
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Evan T. Bloom, Pierre-Richard Prosper, Daniel Dell'Orto, Eliana Davidson, Robert A. Spencer, Daniel P. Collins, Mary Incontro, William Howard Taft, IV, JoAnn J. Dolan, John B. Bellinger, III, Bruce Swartz, Waldo W. Brooks , Patrick Philbin
Jan. 31, 2002 | WH | NSA | ACLU-RDI 4725
Routing and tranmittal cover sheets from December 2001 though February 2002 re: Detainee Detention Flow Charts. No attachements
June 08, 2005
Letter
John B. Bellinger, III, Daniel Dell'Orto, Eliana Davidson, Bruce Swartz, Pierre-Richard Prosper, Evan T. Bloom, William Howard Taft, IV
Jan. 15, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 3543
Department of Defense memo rescinding approval of the use of all Category II techniques and one Category III technique during investigations that were previously approved on December 2, 2002. Attaches memo from Jim Haynes, General Counsel of the ...
June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
James T. Hill
Donald H. Rumsfeld, William J. Haynes, II, James T. Hill
Apr. 16, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 3544

A memo from Secretary Rumsfeld approving a set of interrogation techniques, including some that it admits may be "inconsistent with" provisions of the Geneva Conventions.  The techniques include "Pride and Ego Down," ...

June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
James T. Hill
Donald H. Rumsfeld, James T. Hill, Richard B. Myers
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation
Dec. 30, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 3547
Department of Justice Office of Legal Council on Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A. This memo superceding the August 2002 memo interpreting the anti-torture statute. The memo disagrees with the previous memo's ...
June 01, 2005
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
James B. Comey
Daniel B. Levin, James B. Comey, George W. Bush
Jan. 06, 2005 | Legislative | ACLU-RDI 3549

Questions for Alberto Gonzalez, during his confirmation hearing, including many related to the treatment of detainees

June 01, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Patrick Leahy
Alberto Gonzalez
Alberto R. Gonzales, John D. Ashcroft, Patrick Leahy, George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George J. Tenet
Jan. 15, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 4984

A memo directing DOD General Counsel Jim Haynes to establish a working group "to assess the legal, policy, and operational issues relating to the interrogations of detainees."  That working group would later recommend ...

June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
William J. Haynes, II
Donald H. Rumsfeld, William J. Haynes, II
June 11, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1222
Power Point presentation explaining the responsibilities of U.S. armed forces and detainees' rights under the laws of war. Includes rules for record keeping, lessons for drafting sworn statements, and obligations to treat detainees with dignity ...