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 (62)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Sept. 01, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6595
The September 2004 memorandum from Daniel Levin to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General provides an update on the status of interrogation advice. The memo includes previously given and current/pending advice for the CIA and DOD.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
Attorney General
Jay S. Bybee, John A. Rizzo, John McLaughlin, William "Jim" Haynes, Scott W. Muller, Jack L. Goldsmith
Use of water, Waterboarding, Face slap or insult slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Physical assault
OLC | ACLU-RDI 6594
This legal memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo examines the application of the War Crimes Act, the Detainee Treatment Act, and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions to certain techniques that may be used by the CIA to interrogate ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
SERE, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation
OLC | ACLU-RDI 6593
This legal memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo analyzes whether particular conditions of detention at certain CIA facilities overseas are consistent with the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. The memorandum concludes that conditions at ...
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming
OLC | ACLU-RDI 6591
This memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo analyzes whether certain enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the interrogation of high value al Qaeda detainees would violate US law under Article 16. The memorandum concludes ...
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
OLC | ACLU-RDI 6590
This memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo examines whether certain interrogation techniques can be used in the interrogation of high value al-Qaeda detainees. The memorandum concludes that none of these specific techniques, considered ...
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
DOJ | ACLU-RDI 6585
This document is a letter from Daniel Levin to John Rizzo stating that the use of twelve interrogation techniques in the interrogation of Sharif al-Masri will not violate the U.S. constitution, statute, or other treaty obligation. Levin says ...
Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo, Daniel B. Levin
Khalid Al-Masri
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
May 10, 2005 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6582
An OLC memo from Bradbury to Rizzo addressing whether the combined use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (including waterboarding) violates the prohibition on torture. The memo concludes that it would not violate the torture statute if used ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Steve Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo, Steven G. Bradbury, James B. Comey, Jay Bybee, Daniel B. Levin
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
Aug. 26, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6580
An OLC memo to the CIA addressing whether the use of four enhanced techniques, "dietary manipulation, nudity, water dousing, and abdominal slaps," in the interrogation of [redacted] would violate the law. The letter concludes that use of the ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
Daniel B. Levin, John A. Rizzo
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
Aug. 06, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6579
This letter from Levin to Rizzo addresses the use of waterboarding on a specific detainee. It concludes that "although it is a close and difficult question, the use of the waterboard technique in the contemplated interrogation of [redacted] ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
Daniel B. Levin, John A. Rizzo, Jay Bybee
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
July 22, 2004 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 6578
In the 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. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
John D. Ashcroft
John E. McLaughlin
John McLaughlin, David Ayres, John A. Rizzo, Jay Bybee
Use of water, Waterboarding