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 (23)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 29, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 828
This statement by a Military Officer is a detailed report on several incidents of detainee abuse and misconduct by military personnel at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 & 2004. There are allegations that are described as merely being herd of and some ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Barbara G. Fast, Steven Boltz, Ricardo Sanchez
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Use of phobias, Nudity
May 03, 2005 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 680
Sworn statement of a Captain with the 372nd Military Police Company. The Captain states "I was shocked when I noticed that the detainees in Wing 1 were naked. There was one with women's underwear. . . . " Was told the nudity of detainees and ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Janis Leigh Karpinski
Physical assault, General, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity
July 18, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 659
This is the deposition of Brigadier General Janis L. Karpinski regarding conditions at Abu Ghraib Detention Facility. In her interview, Gen. Karpinski testified that she visited cell blocks 1A and 1B regularly; that Abu Ghraib housed juveniles ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Investigative File, Interview (Transcript), Judicial (Transcript)
Janis Leigh Karpinski, Thomas Pappas, Ricardo Sanchez, Geoffrey D. Miller, Barbara G. Fast, Paul Hill, Kretzer, Walter Wojdakowski, Michael Diamond, David D. McKiernan
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Other
Feb. 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 308
Cpt. Reese was the commander of the soldiers directly involved in detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib. He said of his men “I'm appalled by what I saw from my soldiers; 2 out of the 7 here are correctional officers. And they were specifically put there ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Donald J. Reese, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Jerry Phillabaum, Steven L. Jordan, John P. Abizaid, Michael Sheridan
Nudity, Forced physical training
Feb. 14, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 283
Testimony of Command Sargent Major Pascual Cartagena, 800th Military Police Battalion. CMS Cartagena stated “I was an Individual Replacement [to the 800th MP Brigade] I was not associated with the 800th MP Brigade prior to this assignment I have ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Pascual Cartagena, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Anthony Cavallaro
Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
Feb. 15, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 269
Testimony of Major Anthony Cavallaro, 800th Military Police Brigade. Major Cavallaro described how he came in to his position, and how his unit was deployed to Iraq and on to Abu Ghraib prison. He relates his understanding of a detainee shooting ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Paul Hill, Ricardo Sanchez, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald J. Ryder, Anthony Cavallaro, Walter Wojdakowski, Joseph M. Poth , Michael Diamond, Thomas Pappas
Isolation, Nudity
Feb. 14, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 268
Testimony of Major Michael Sheridan, 320th Military Police Battalion. Major Sheridan described his role in the unit and how his unit was deployed to Abu Ghraib, Iraq. He related his understanding of the November 17th riot involving an Iraqi ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Michael Sheridan, Paul Hill, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Lisa M. Girman
Use of phobias, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
Feb. 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 261
Col. describes how he received his assignment to Iraq and the conditions he found at Abu Ghraib prison. He also describes and an incident where he referred an "unauthorized detainee interview" to Gen Pappas and that was eventually given to Capt. ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, John P. Abizaid, Thomas Pappas, Carolyn A. Wood, Barbara G. Fast, Ricardo Sanchez, Steven L. Jordan, Luciana Spencer, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Walter Wojdakowski, Geoffrey D. Miller, Condoleeza Rice, Donald J. Ryder, Michael D. Thompson , Marc Warren
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Nudity
Feb. 14, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 256
Interview conducted by Gen. Taguba of Lt. Colonel James O'Hare of the 800th Military Police Brigade. The Lt. Colonel goes in to detail about how he came to his assignment in Iraq as well as his experiences at Abu Ghraib prison. On his experience ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Henry B. Nelson, Gary M. Kluka, John E. Davis, James E. O'Hare, William D. Proietto, Paul Hill, Ricardo Sanchez
Threat, Assault/death, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Nudity
Feb. 14, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 257
Testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Gary Maddocks, Executive Officer, 800th Military Police Brigade, which guarded Abu Ghraib prison. LTC Maddocks gave specific and detailed accounts of his experiences at Abu Ghraib that includes the chain of ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Gary W. Maddocks, Paul Hill, Janis Leigh Karpinski
Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity