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 (136)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 19, 2004 | DIA | ACLU-RDI 4861
A DIA Official who toured through Iraq from October 28, 2003 through April 21, 2004 was interviewed about his knowledge of the abuse allegations at Abu Ghraib prison. The official stated that he visited Abu Ghraib on two (2) occasions and did not ...
Apr. 24, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez
Feb. 11, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 4852
530th Military Police Battalion-Camp Ashraf Mission Brief/PowerPoint presentation on the rights of enemy prisoners of war (EPWs). The presentation includes Geneva Convention articles and principles, which discuss the proper treatment of EPWs.
Jan. 05, 2007
Other
Antonio Taguba
Antonio Taguba
May 06, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4635
Email from a DOS Official to DOJ Officials. The email includes a New York Times article, which discusses the Justice Department's investigation into the CIA and their contractors for their possible involvement in the death of three detainees, one ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Email
JoAnn J. Dolan
David Nahmias | Patrick Philbin
Patrick Philbin, David E. Nahmias, JoAnn J. Dolan, Pat Roberts, Antonio Taguba
Abed Hamed Mowhoush
July 20, 2007 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4552

An OLC memo addressing whether the CIA may use 6 "enhanced interrogation techniques" in the interrogation of high value detainees: (1) dietary manipulation, (2) extended sleep deprivation, (3) facial hold, (4) attention grasp, (5) ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo, Steven G. Bradbury, John McCain, Duncan Lee Hunter, Patrick Leahy, Jesse Francis Bingaman, Jr., Hillary Clinton, John Warner, Richard J. Durbin, Christopher H. Shays, Patrick Philbin, Michael Hayden, Condoleeza Rice, Antonio Taguba
Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Jose Padilla, Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri
EIT, SERE, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity, Sexual, Use of water, Threat, Other Humiliation
May 11, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4008
This email is a copy of the press release of the remarks of Sec. Powell and Foreign Minister Fischer concerning Iraq in the context of a new UN resolution that will be required to move forward to returning full sovereignty back to the Iraqis; ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Jonathan B. Schwartz
Ed Cummings | JoAnn J. Dolan | Todd F. Buchwald
Colin L. Powell, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Edward R. Cummings, JoAnn J. Dolan, Todd F. Buchwald, Condoleeza Rice, Antonio Taguba, L. Paul Bremer, Donald H. Rumsfeld
May 26, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3832
Roundtable interview with Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell. On May 26. 2004, Mr. Powell answered a series of questions from journalists regarding allegations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
Dec. 30, 2004
Other
Frank E. Schmelzer , Antonio Taguba, Colin L. Powell, Richard Green Lugar, Tom Lantos, Henry J. Hyde, George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld, John D. Ashcroft
Oct. 15, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 3313
Human Rights Watch claims that the detention facilities being operated by the CIA are un-lawful and requests to visit the detention facilities in Afghanistan. CIA General Counsel Scott W. Muller replies that the CIA is operating lawfully and ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Letter
George Tenet | Condoleeza Rice | Scott W. Muller
George J. Tenet, Condoleeza Rice, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Scott W. Muller, Antonio Taguba, George W. Bush, William J. Haynes, II
FBI | ACLU-RDI 3024
FBI Memo concerning FBI personal's knowledge and documentation of detainee and prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Antonio Taguba
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
July 13, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 2845
CNN news story reporting that International Committee of the Red Cross concerned that U.S. authorities were not providing information on the identities or whereabouts of certain detainees. Article references Taguba report on "ghost detainees."
Dec. 15, 2004
Other
Antonio Taguba
Aug. 27, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 2411
DOS cable to US Embassy and Consular posts concerning how to address allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. The cable instructs the embassy and consular officials to understand the different allegations of abuse and how to address questions ...
June 15, 2006
Cable
James R. Schlesinger, Harold Brown, Tillie Kidd Fowler, Charles Albert Horner, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, George R. Fay, Antonio Taguba