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 (254)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Dec. 06, 2006 | ACLU-RDI 6511
N/A
June 13, 2016
Non-legal Memo
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature
Aug. 26, 2006 | CID | ACLU-RDI 4528
On 24 Dec 2003 American forces raided a house in the Slaikh Alrabee neighborhood of Baghdad. The men inside were taken in to custody with blindfolds and cuffed behind their backs. The men allege that during their arrest they were abused by being ...
Sept. 24, 2008
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming
June 07, 2006 | ACLU-RDI 6551
This document is an email sent on June 7, 2006, from [redacted] to [redacted] regarding Dr. Mitchell's 7 June Meeting with the DCI. In the previous release of this document (on June 13, 2016), the name "Dr. Mitchell" was also redacted in the ...
Sept. 30, 2016
Email
James Mitchell , George W. Bush, Michael Hayden
Stress positions, Other Humiliation
June 07, 2006 | ACLU-RDI 6500
N/A
June 13, 2016
Email
George W. Bush, Michael Hayden
Stress positions, Other Humiliation
May 04, 2006 | CID | ACLU-RDI 160
Military Police Investigative Report in to allegations of a soldier in Afghanistan pointing a gun at the head of a restrained detainee. The soldier offered a statement in which he states 1) the gun was a BB gun and not his service weapon; and 2) ...
Apr. 05, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions
Mar. 10, 2006 | CID | ACLU-RDI 5505
This is a CID investigation into the reported abuse and death of an unknown Iraqi male at Theater Internment Facility (TIF), Camp Bucca, Umm Qasr, Iraq. The person making the claim is a Staff Sergeant (SSGT) who has worked at the facility on or ...
Jan. 14, 2011
Investigative File (CID), Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Isolation
Feb. 15, 2006 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 5000

A State Department memo addressing whether Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture applies to the CIA's interrogations in foreign countries. The State Department determined that the prohibitions against torture do apply, despite its ...

Apr. 03, 2012
Legal Memo
Phillip Zelikow
Phillip Zelikow
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
Nov. 11, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2305
A detainee alleges he was burned with "hot gases" coming from a transport vehicle while he lay on his stomach in the back of the vehicle while being transported. Medical records revealed that the detainee suffered burn injuries which required ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Cramped confinement
Nov. 02, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2300
Detainee reported that he was arrested after US forces found a weapon in his home. He was detained at Al Sijood Palace, Iraq, and it was during this detention he states he was hooded; flexicuffed; punched; kicked; yelled at; and threatened. ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling
Sept. 16, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2250
Criminal Investigation Command (CID) report into allegations of assault, cruelty and maltreatment of a detainee by guards at Abu Ghraib. Among the detainee's allegations, he stated that a US Army Sergeant hung him by his arms from the bars of a ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Donald J. Ryder, Thom Jones
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other