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 (145)

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 ...
This letter from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo memorializes the advice that Bradbury gave to Rizzo regarding whether the conditions of confinement used by the CIA in its covert overseas facilities are consistent with common Article 3 of the 1949 ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Letter
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
A letter providing legal advice regarding whether the conditions of detention at certain overseas CIA facilities are consistent with the applicable standards of the DTA. It concludes that the conditions of confinement did not constitute "cruel, ...
This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This document is the CIA's response to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program. "The comments presented in this paper on The Senate Select Committee on ...
General Sanchez states in his memo that "[this] memorandum established the interrogation and counter-resistance policy for CJTF-7." The memo contains two enclosures: 1. Interrogation Techniques; 2. General Safeguards. Gen. Sanchez states that ...
This memorandum of understanding is between the Joint Interrogation and Detention Center (JIDC) and all external agencies who want to house detainees in cell block 1A and 1B at Abu Ghraib. The stated goal of the agreement is to eliminate the ...
Jan. 14, 2014
Non-legal Memo
Isolation
This DOD memorandum establishes the interrogation and counter-resistance policy for security internees under the control of CJTF-7. The memo outlines various interrogation approaches when dealing with security internees.
Jan. 14, 2014
Non-legal Memo
Ricardo Sanchez
Ricardo Sanchez
Isolation
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