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.
Email from David Bowker to JoAnn Dolan and Joshua Dorosin forwarding and email from Evan Bloom with an attachment entitled 24FJ011. Attachement not included.
This document is a State Department press release of a press conference held by State Department Spokesman David Boucher concerning issues on the Middle-East peace progress with the Israelis and Palestinians, specifically discussing Yassar ...
State Department email from David W. Bowker to Joshua Dorosin forwarding an email from Evan Bloom on press guidance and talking points on the legal status of the Guantanamo detainees held by the U.S.. Attachment not included.
This is a State department Talking points and press guidance memo concerning the legal basis for the U.S. holding detainees at Guantanamo. The talking points highlight that the detainees are "enemy Combatants" and not Prisoners of War (POWs) and ...
Email from Ed Cummings to Joshua Dorosin asking for comments on attached suggested talking points, with the comment "First draft. What do you think?" Attachment not included.
Email from Gilda M. Brancato to Ed Cummings forwarding Reuters artcile re: French detainees at Guantanamo complaining of psychological torture. No comments on email.
State Department talking points and press guidance on discussing the legal status of the Guantanamo detainees. The memo states that the legal status currently being reviewed and that the detainees are being treated humanely.
State Department email from David W. Bowker to JoAnn Dolan, Edward R. Cummings, Joshua L. Dorosin, Andre M. Surena and Ronald W. Miller forwarding several emails concerning the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) visiting the ...
This State Department email is a forwarding of several emails initiated by David A. Kaye with attachments described as: 1) A basic law of armed conflict paper for the interagency; 2) Contingency press guidance on the status of persons captured ...
This State Department email from David Bowker to Joshua Dorosin is the last in a series of emails initiated by JoAnn Dolan to Debbie Daumit with the comment: "Debbie: Hal is up at USUN covering a conference on Terrorism Convention and left a ...
State Department email from JoAnn Dolan to Jonathan B. Schwartz and Samuel M. Witten with a draft attachment and a comment "Attached is a draft IM on the court cases yesterday"
Emails between JoAnn Dolan, Joshua L. Dorosin, Todd F. Buchwald and Others re Urgent Clearance: Checklist for ICRC Kellenberger Meeting with S. Attachments not included, minor comments concerning the attachements.
DOS Memo re: Talking Points on Draft Resolution on the Question of Arbitrary Detentions in the Area of the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo. Commission on Human Rights draft resolution requesting clarification on the living conditions and status of ...
Email from Joshua Dorosin to Joshua Lipshutz re: Clearance/comments needed on red border response letter. With the comment "Josh - Can you clear this for UPM? Please call JoAnn at home to review with her and then send any comments directly back ...
Email from Jonathan Carpenter to Joshua Lipshutz re: Clearance/comments needed on red border response letter. With the comment "couple of suggestions. thanks. jc." The email is forwarding an email from Andrew Sagor with an attachment entitled ...
Email from Beverly Holman to JoAnn Dolan re: International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) Letters on Detainees - (Confidential) 2004 19914-ICRC Letters on Detainees- Due in S/ES by 3:00 pm, 8/25. This email forwards an email with ...
Email from Ronald W. Miller to Donna Boltz, Leeann Bormand and Eliana Davidson re: Final Fact Sheet for PD Package with the comment "For everyone's review/comment. Simply took DoD cleared PAG and incorporated into fact sheet requested by NSC at ...
Email from Ronald W. Miller to Joshua L. Dorosin re: Clearance. The comment from Mr. Miller is "Josh, in Joann's absence, can you look at these cables - each have been cleared except for L (to include OSD). Thanks." with three (3) attachments. ...
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Emails between Ronald W. Miller and Joshua L. Dorosin re: Comments on DOD Paper. The email contains an attachment, not included. The comments on the initial email from Joshua Dorosin states "Ron/JoAnn - I'll be pulling comments together today ...
Email from JoAnn Dolan to Joshua L. Dorosin, Edward R. Cummings, Katherine Gorove and Ronald W. Miller re: Public Diplomacy Docs. The comments from Ms. Dolan are "It is probably too late to get it in circulation before the SVTS. Let's get a final ...
Emails between JoAnn J. Dolan, Joshua L. Dorosin, Ronald W. Miller and Others re: PD on Detainees-Strategy Paper. The email has an attachment, not included. the comments from Ms. Dolan are "I assume no one has anything further on this one. Ron: ...
Emails discuss a visit by an unknown individual and a Baltimore Sun article entitled "Pentagon Says It's Hiding No One From Red Cross."
The more recent email is redacted. The news article reports that the Pentagon denies hiding imprisoned ...
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Cover sheet for memo to Condoleeza Rice and Richard L. Armitage, the cover sheet asks Armitage-Rice to coordinate the state's response to the attached/enclosed memo.
[Memo is not included].
Email discusses using an informal approach with Matt Waxman in order to have him provide a briefing on U.S. detainee policy in Afghanistan to Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni.
Every email except for the original email is redacted. The original email appears to be talking points regarding the grant of 'protective person' status to "MEK."
Emails between Joseph Ereli and Rhonda Shore re: 07-26-04 Taken Questions from Daily Press Briefing. The initial email from Edgar Vasques has the list of Q's asked at the daily press briefing. Mr. Ereli's email has the comment "ok, but today's ...
Emails discuss and include various news articles, one Reuters article is entitled: "US grants protection for anti-Tehran group in Iraq." The articles report that the United States gave 3,800 Iranian rebels at the Ashraf base in Iraq protected ...
The original email includes a Reuters news article entitled: "Pentagon Opposes Independent Prison Abuse Probe." The article reports that the Pentagon opposed calls from human rights groups for an independent investigation of detainee abuse.
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
Letter from OAS/Inter-Commission on Human Rights to Colin L. Powell requesting precautionary measures for detainees in Guantanamo.
The letter states that 254 detainees were brought to Camp X-ray on or about Jan 11, 2002 from Afghanistan, Mr. ...
Letter from The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to an unnamed "Commission". The letter states "Enclosed please find Observations to Precautionary Measures. In addition, the following individuals and institutions would like to join as ...
Emails discuss talking points for use by the U.S. expert on the Committee Against Torture, discussing what the U.S. will say in response to prisoner abuses in Iraq. Talking points included.
Most of the emails are completely redacted. The emails that are not redacted, discuss the U.S. government's grant of protection to anti-Tehran groups in Iraq.
Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.