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 (46)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Oct. 15, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 114

Iraqi detainee alleged that he was taken from his cell to another location by plain-clothed Americans who beat him in the head and stomach, dislocated his arms, "stepped on the [his] nose" and broke it, and stuck a pistol in his ...

Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, Thom Jones
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
Oct. 25, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 112

Investigation into allegations by senior Psyops officers in Afghanistan who witnessed indiscriminate assaults in May 2004 by Special Forces on villagers during raids in Gurjay and Surkhagen. Abuses included hitting and kicking villagers in ...

Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
Dec. 05, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 113

An investigation finding probable cause to believe that two U.S. soldiers committed the offense of assault when they punched and kicked a local detainee whom they picked up at a roadblock and transported to an Iraqi prison. A sergeant took ...

Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, Thom Jones
Physical assault, General, Other
Sept. 25, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 111

An investigation into allegations that Iraqi detainees were punched in the head and stomach in the back of a U.S. Army vehicle by numerous soldiers after being taken from their house in the middle of the night. The investigation was initiated ...

Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General
Apr. 30, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 104
An investigation into the February 28, 2004 shooting of Muhamad Husain Kadir, an Iraqi cow herder who was flex-cuffed, by PFC Edward L. Richmond (name disclosed in later-produced court-martial records).  The platoon stationed at Taal Al Jal ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Edward L. Richmond, Jacqueline J. Scott
Muhamad Husain Kadir
Physical assault, General
July 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 105
Investigations into numerous alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison and Al-Ademeya Palace based on reports from CACI and Titan translation employees. Alleged abuses include the physical beatings and humiliation of various detainees, forced exercise ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training
Oct. 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 103
CID Report of investigation into detainee’s alleged abuse while detained on a military base in Fallujah. Detainee alleged the Kurdish Military and Iraqi Linguish abused him. Specifically, the detainee alleged that the linguist hung him by his ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General
Aug. 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 101
CID Report of investigation regarding alleged assault on detainee. Detainee was captured on July 3, 2004 in Baghdad. He was transported to a detention facility near Al Satar City, on Rashad Base, where he stayed for one night. He was then ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Isolation
July 28, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 98
CID Report of investigation concerning alleged abuse of detainee during interrogation. Detainee was captured on June 19, 2004 and transported “to what he described as one of the Presidential Palaces.” He was then interrogated. The detainee was ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Isolation
Aug. 05, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 99
CID Report of investigation into alleged abuse and sodomy of detainee. Victim was captured on May 4, 2004 “by two males wearing green t-shirts, cargo pants and tan vests, who stated they worked for the Criminal Investigations."He was handcuffed, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson, Jacqueline J. Scott, Nelson van Eck
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual