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 (6709)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Apr. 09, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4352
State Department cable concerning a gentleman who approached the embassy to inquire about his son’s status in U.S. custody at Guantanamo. The father stated that he formed a group of detainee families to act collectively to seek information, ...
Sept. 29, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4353
State Department cable concerning a summary of the Yemeni Parliamentary Committee's investigation and detention of "hundreds" of suspects involved in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen in October 2000. The Committee's report focused on ...
Nov. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4354
State Department cable concerning European Asst. Sec. Elizabeth Jones meeting with Danish EU Presidency representatives concerning "Political Hot Spots" such as: Iraq; Afghanistan; and Central Asia. The Koreas were discussed as was southern ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Elizabeth Jones
Bill Taylor
Elizabeth Jones
Nov. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4355
State Department cable concerning a meeting with the French Foreign Minister Hubert Colin de Verdiere. Mr. de Verdiere expressed concerns over a United Nations Security Council resolution on Iraq; the treatment of several French citizens in the ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Mar. 07, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4356
State Department cable concerning the family of a detainee and his impending transfer from Guantanamo to his home country. The rights activists request that US not transfer any war prisoners because "torture, inhumane treatment and the death ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Lorne Craner
Mar. 28, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4357
State Department cable detailing Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper's meeting with senior Swedish officials, parliamentarians, the press and legal experts concerning the U.S. detention of terror suspects and the label "Illegal Combatant" in order ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Mar. 31, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4358
State Department cable concerning an article in the Independent newspaper concerning two (2) Al-Qaeda terror suspects, Jamil El Banna and Bisher Amin Khalil al Rawi, being transferred to Guantanamo. The article raises questions about extradition ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Jamil El Banna, Bisher Amin Khalil al Rawi
June 10, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4359
State Department cable concerning the June 12 arrival of the Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh to call on the Secretary of State, Colin Powell. The issues to be covered are: The Middle East peace process; transatlantic relations; ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
June 17, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4360
State Department cable giving a summary of meeting between Sec. Powell and Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. FM Lindh praised the current U.S. efforts in the Middle East and assured Sec. Powell that the Europeans will do what they can to help ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Richard A. Boucher, Henry Bisharat, Craig A. Kelly , Beth Jones
Aug. 07, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4361
State Department cable to Secretary of State Powell giving advice on upcoming visits of senior U.S. Defense policy and Pol-Mil visitors to Australia in a two-week period in Mid-August 2003 "to convey the importance of our alliance to our ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell