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 (185)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
June 18, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6720
This June 18, 2002 cable details the message that the interrogation team delivered to Abu Zubaydah, which is redacted, the interrogation techniques used on him and his reactions to them, and an assessment of his resistance posture. The cable ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
SERE, Physical assault, Attention grasp, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
| ACLU-RDI 6721
This CIA cable to the Immediate ALEC Info Director discusses medical care in the event that Abu Zubaydah has a heart attack or another serious medical condition and plans for cremation if he dies. The cable also states that the detainee must ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Isolation
| ACLU-RDI 6727
This CIA cable states that a meeting took place with Abu Zubaydah interrogation team members, including psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, to discuss specific interrogation techniques, legal guidance, and plans for the post-isolation ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Isolation
June 17, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6745
This June 17, 2002 email discuses replacing psychologist Jim Mitchell with another SERE psychologist whose name is redacted during the July headquarters meeting. The email also includes the contents of a cable regarding "preparing for [redacted] ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Email, Cable
James Mitchell
Abu Zubaydah
Isolation
July 18, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6754
This cable discusses the preparation for Abu Zubaydah's upcoming interrogation phase and details his condition on day 30 of the isolation phase.
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
Physical assault, Walling, Cramped confinement, Isolation
July 19, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6777
This CIA cable describes Abu Zubaydah's condition in detention as of July 19, 2002. The cable states that the next stage of Zubaydah's detention will include confinement, dressing changes, walling and a head immobilizer, as requested by IC SERE ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Walling, Cramped confinement, Isolation, Other, Physical assault
| ACLU-RDI 6716
This October 23, 2006 email includes a cable describing Abu Zubaydah's current condition in isolation and observations of a rehearsal of the next phase of Abu Zubaydah's interrogations, which included the use of confinement boxes and the water ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Email, Cable
Abu Zubaydah
Use of water, Waterboarding, Cramped confinement, Isolation
June 19, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6682
This cable describes a redacted detainee's behavior in the second day of a three week isolation phase.
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Isolation
June 23, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6686
This cable describes a redacted detainee's behavior in the fifth day of a three week isolation phase.
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Isolation
June 24, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6687
This cable describes a redacted detainee's behavior in the sixth day of a three week isolation phase.
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Isolation