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 (100)

This sworn statement is by a civilian contractor with the Titan Corp. assigned to Abu Ghraib prison on October 13, 2003 as a Linguist/Translator to conduct translation services during interrogations at the prison. The translator recalled hearing ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas
Use of water, Other, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Forced grooming
Statement of a Chief warrant officer 2 who was tasked with managing interrogation operations at Abu Ghraib prison in July 2003. The CW2 criticized the organization of interrogation, especially at higher levels, and described it as "amateurish". ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas, Ricardo Sanchez
Memo discusses information obtained from a telephonic interview of redacted. [redacted] discussed the general environment of AG (e.g. protocol for receiving new detainees). [redacted] stated that "it was not uncommon to see people without ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas
Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Interviewee arrived to AG on October 20, 2003 to conduct interrogation operations. Interviewee briefly discussed what he/she was taught in training, stating "We were not allowed to use Pride and Ego down." Interviewee also provided that he/she ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas
Use of phobias

A statement by an individual stationed at Abu Ghraib as an individual augmentee on or about October 16, 2003. The individual stated that at Abu Ghraib, "there was no oversight of most of the interrogations being conducted as everyone was ...

Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Isolation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious
Document is a transcript of a Staff Judge Advocate assigned to AG from November 26, 2003 to December 14, 2003. Described development of interrogation, the interrogation rules of engagement (IROE). Iraq interrogation policy "utilized Guantanamo ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Questionnaire)
Ricardo Sanchez, Thomas Pappas, Geoffrey D. Miller, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Barbara G. Fast
Physical assault, Sexual, Use of phobias
Interviewee visited AG approximately five times. His/her sworn statement generally discusses the military protocol at AG.
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Ricardo Sanchez, Thomas Pappas
Interviewee arrived to AG in July 2004 Interviewee recalled an incident that involved a soldier screaming at detainees after a mortar attack. Interviewee noted that the use of dogs required prior approval.
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas
Nudity, Other
Interviewee arrived to AG on October 20, 2003 to conduct interrogation operations.
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas
Sworn Statement of a Sergeant First Class (E7) concerning detainee handling and treatment at Abu Ghraib prison from mid-December 2003 until late February 2004. The SFC was the a Liaison Officer and Platoon Sergeant in the 325th at Abu Ghraib ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas
Use of phobias, Nudity