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 (28)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
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
July 20, 2007 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6549
This July 20, 2007 OLC memo from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo discusses whether the CIA may lawfully employ six enhanced interrogation techniques in the interrogation of "high value detainees who are members of al Qaeda and associated groups. ...
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation
May 10, 2005 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6546
This May 10, 2005 OLC memo discusses whether certain interrogation techniques designed to be used on a high value al Qaeda detainee comply with the federal prohibition on torture.
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
EIT, 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
Mar. 02, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 6514
A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation. The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness of detention ...
June 13, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
CIA General Counsel
Jack Goldsmith
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Environmental manipulation, Temperature
May 10, 2005 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4986

An OLC memo addressing whether the combined use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (including waterboarding) violates the prohibition on torture.  The memo concludes that it would not.

Apr. 16, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo, James B. Comey, Jay S. 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
OLC | ACLU-RDI 4599

An OLC summary of three OLC opinions issued to the CIA in May 2005 regarding the legality of the CIA's interrogation program. Those three opinions are listed as "Related Documents." [OLC Vaughn Index # 164]

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
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, Nudity
CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 4596

An undated CIA memo arguing that the CIA's interrogation program does not violate the Convention Against Torture, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A, or 18 U.S.C. § 2441. Part of the memo relies upon the contention that so long as ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
OLC | ACLU-RDI 4595

This document is an undated draft memorandum analyzing whether the McCain Amendment would prevent the CIA from using its "enhanced interrogation techniques." The memo concludes that the McCain Amendment would not do so because (1) ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
John McCain
EIT, SERE, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
Aug. 26, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4582

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 ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
Daniel B. Levin, John A. Rizzo
EIT, Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Dietary manipulation, Nudity