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 (36)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 22, 2004 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4671
Cover page for document to be delivered to administration personnel concerning the January 22, 2004 PCC meeting on detainees.
June 08, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Bruce Swartz, Pierre-Richard Prosper, JoAnn J. Dolan, William Howard Taft, IV, Eliana Davidson, John B. Wiegmann
Nov. 14, 2003 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4714
White House Fax Cover Sheet re: Summary of Conclusions for 11-10-03 PCC on Detainees. No additional information. No attachments.
June 08, 2005
Letter
Brad Wiegmann
Bruce Swartz | Pierre-Richard Prosper | William Howard Taft, IV | Eliana Davidson | Paul Butler
John B. Wiegmann, Paul W. Butler, Bruce Swartz, Pierre-Richard Prosper, William Howard Taft, IV, Eliana Davidson
May 07, 2003 | WH | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5058
Press release from the White House affirming the Bush administration's belief in the Geneva Convention, but noting that Taliban detainees are not entitled to POW status and that members of al-Qaeda are not covered by the Convention.
Other
George W. Bush, Ari Fleischer
Mar. 18, 2003 | WH | ACLU-RDI 5885
This DOS Cable to the US Mission, Geneva, Switzerland outlining the US position concerning the care, treatment & transfer of detainees captured and detained in the War on Terror and are in US custody.
Oct. 28, 2011
Cable
Kim R. Holmes
Kim R. Holmes, George W. Bush
Oct. 26, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4713
White House Fax Cover Sheet re: SOC for 18 October PC Meeting on Detainees. No addtional information. No attachments.
June 08, 2005
Letter
Maura Harty | James A. Whitmore | James A. McAtamney | Edward Snead
Maura A. Harty, James A. Whitmore, James A. McAtamney, Edward W. Snead, Paul W. Butler
Oct. 23, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4707
White House Cover Sheet re: Routing and Transmittal Slip. No additional in formation or comments.
Sept. 20, 2002 | EOP | ACLU-RDI 3542

A letter from President Bush describing progress against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and work with other countries.

June 01, 2005
Letter
George W. Bush
John Dennis Hastert | Robert C. Byrd
John Dennis Hastert, Robert C. Byrd
Aug. 14, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4712
White House Fax Cover Sheet re: SOC for 8 August DC Meeting on Detainee Processing. No attachment. No additional information
June 08, 2005
Letter
Maura Harty | James A. Whitmore | James A. McAtamney | Jeffrey Kupfer | Edward Snead
Maura A. Harty, James A. Whitmore, Edward W. Snead, James A. McAtamney
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
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 3541
This White House memo describes U.S. policy toward detainees at Guantanamo.  States that they are not entitled to POW treatment but that they are treated humanely and given many of the protections that POWs are given.

June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
George W. Bush