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 (34)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
June 18, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4601

An OLC memo from Jack Goldsmith to John Helgerson, the CIA's Inspector General, expressing disagreement with the Special Review's representation of OLC opinions on two points -- whether John Ashcroft (Attorney General) authorized ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Letter
Jack L. Goldsmith
John L. Helgerson
Jack L. Goldsmith, John L. Helgerson, John D. Ashcroft, John A. Rizzo, George J. Tenet
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Waterboarding, Use of water
July 22, 2004 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 4576
In a letter to Acting CIA Director McLaughlin, Attorney General Ashcroft confirms his advice that the use of certain interrogation techniques (other than waterboarding) in the interrogation of a particular detainee outside territory subject to ...
Aug. 24, 2009
Letter
John D. Ashcroft
John E. McLaughlin
John D. Ashcroft, John McLaughlin, John A. Rizzo, Jay S. Bybee
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
June 08, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4544

An OLC memo concluding that “the military has the legal authority to detain [Jose Padilla] as a prisoner captured during an international armed conflict,” and that the Posse Comitatus Act poses no bar.

Mar. 02, 2009
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
John D. Ashcroft
John D. Ashcroft, Jay S. Bybee, William J. Haynes, II, Alberto R. Gonzales, Patrick Philbin, Robert J. Delahunty, Timothy E. Flanigan
Jose Padilla
Aug. 21, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 4872

 This document contains the text of editorials and responses concerning the Patriot Act.

Nov. 09, 2005
Non-legal Memo
John D. Ashcroft, Clement Leroy Otter, William Jefferson Clinton, Patrick Leahy, Orrin Hatch, Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., Frank James Sensenbrenner, Jr. , George W. Bush, Charles E. Schumer
Yaser Esam Hamdi, Jose Padilla
May 23, 2003 | EOUSA | ACLU-RDI 4873

This memo was circulated by the government to all U.S. Attorneys around the country in response to public criticism of the Patriot Act. 

Nov. 09, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Guy A. Lewis
Guy A. Lewis, Mary Beth Buchanan, John D. Ashcroft, Patrick Leahy
Mar. 15, 2004 | Legislative | ACLU-RDI 4874

 A CRS report analyzing the law relating to the detention of two American citizens (Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla) as alleged "enemy combatants."

Nov. 09, 2005
Legal Memo
Jennifer K. Elsea
Jennifer K. Elsea, George W. Bush, William J. Haynes, II, Alberto R. Gonzales, Michael H. Mobbs, John D. Ashcroft
Yaser Esam Hamdi, Jose Padilla, John Walker Lindh, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4684
This White House memo discusses the treatment of detainees taken in the War on Terror and how they are to be classified and the determination of their legal status.
June 08, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld | John D. Ashcroft | I. Lewis Libby | George Tenet | Condoleeza Rice
George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Colin L. Powell, John D. Ashcroft, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, I. Lewis Libby, George J. Tenet
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
June 25, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3320
Email discusses the UN "Oil for Food" program and the potential corruption involved in the program.
May 18, 2005
Email
Laura M. Laughlin
Valerie E. Caproni
Laura M. Laughlin, Valerie E. Caproni, Chris Swecker, Robert A. Spencer, James E. Henderson, Patrick Rowan, Bruce Swartz, David W. Szady, Joseph R. Lewis, Michael T. Rochford, Robert S. Mueller, John D. Ashcroft
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 201
This is a memo from President Bush to the Vice President and other key administration personnel stating that "none of the provisions of Geneva apply to our conflict with al Qaeda in Afghanistan or elsewhere throughout the world because, among ...
Apr. 06, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld
George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Colin L. Powell, John D. Ashcroft, George J. Tenet