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 (73)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Sept. 01, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 5987
This document is a statement signed by an FBI Special Agent in the presence of a Supervisory Special Agent. The agent recounts their assignment by the Defense Humint Services Headquarters to lead a Humint Augmentation Team in support of a special ...
Apr. 27, 2009
Interview (Statement)
Use of water, Other, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Other
Aug. 31, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 467

An email between members of the Staff Judge Advocate, forwarding a Washington Post article titled "Documents Helped Sow Abuse, Army Report Finds," from August 30, 2004.

Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Ricardo Sanchez, Paul J. Kern, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Alberto Mora, Geoffrey D. Miller, George W. Bush, John P. Abizaid, George R. Fay, Thomas Pappas
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Religious
Aug. 23, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 4999

This report discusses an investigation into the alleged abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib Detention Facility. The investigation was ordered initially by LTG Ricardo S. Sanchez, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Seven (CJTF-7). LTG Sanchez ...

Aug. 25, 2004
Oversight Report, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Ricardo Sanchez, George R. Fay, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald J. Ryder, Antonio Taguba, Barbara G. Fast, Walter Wojdakowski, Thomas G. Miller, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Thomas Pappas, Jerry Phillabaum, Ivan L. Frederick, II, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Steven L. Jordan, Carolyn A. Wood, L. Paul Bremer, Colin L. Powell, Robert P. Walters Jr, Marc Warren, Sabrina D. Harman, Romie Leslie Brownlee, Lynndie Rana England, Daniel Kazmier, Franklin D. Raab, Steven Boltz, David M. Price, L. Potter, Dennis E. Stevanus, Aldo Fierro, Varej Filhanessian, George O'Kane, Anthony Cavallaro, David O. Sutton, First Sergeant McBride, Staff Sergeant Hannifan, Staff Sergeant Cole, David W. DiNenna, Sr. , Sergeant Spiker, Darrell Jarred Plude , Joshua R. Claus, Sergeant Presnell, Sergeant Lawson, Michael D. Thompson
Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, Walling, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced grooming, Other
Aug. 03, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 83
Army commenced an investigation prompted by "allegations documented in an excerpt from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4887
These emails are a response to for a request for feedback from FBI agents who have cycled through Guantanamo and witnessed detainee abuse. An agent responded and wrote "I did observe treatment that was not only aggressive, but personally very ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Environmental manipulation
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
July 17, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 97
CID Report of investigation regarding alleged abuse of detainee at unknown detention facility in Tikrit, Iraq. Detainee picked up by Iraqi Police on or about April 15, 2004. He was interviewed with the assistance of an interpreter on May 5, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
July 05, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 91
Investigation prompted by NYT article containing victim's allegations of torture and abuse during detention in Abu Ghraib from November 29 through December 31, 2003. Investigation concludes there is not “sufficient evidence to prove or disprove ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Bisher Amin Khalil al Rawi
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation
July 02, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 735
Sworn Statement of a Sergeant assigned to Abu Ghraib prison. The Sgt. recalled finding a detainee naked in their cell, the detainee was identified as a high level official. Recalled the detainee was embarrassed about being naked in the cell ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Nudity
June 24, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4067
Emails discuss and include a cable from the U.K. Bar Association Chair and others expressing their opinion on interrogation methods utilized by the U.S. military in Iraq and Guantanamo. The U.K. Bar Association Chair stated that the "extreme ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
JoAnn J. Dolan
Edward R. Cummings | Todd F. Buchwald | Joshua L. Dorosin | James H. Thessin
Thomas Malionek, William J. Gehron, JoAnn J. Dolan, Edward R. Cummings, Todd F. Buchwald, Joshua L. Dorosin, James H. Thessin, Michael J. Dennis
Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Forced grooming, Other Humiliation