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 (36)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 07, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1837
Original email describes a visit from [redacted], a committee member of an Islamic human rights organization. The email also references a conversation between the author and [redacted] discussing alleged abuse cases that took place at Abu Ghraib.
Dec. 21, 2005
Email
Geoffrey D. Miller, Ricardo Sanchez
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1195
Department of Defense talking points on Abu Ghraib detainee abuse which highlight how abuse is fundamentally against American military standards, how the majority of U.S. soldiers conduct themselves honorably, and how the abuse will be ...
May 16, 2005
Email
Peter Pace, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez, George W. Casey, Jr., Geoffrey D. Miller, John P. Abizaid
May 04, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1196
Department of Defense talking points on the Abu Ghraib prison abuse. Main points include how disturbing the images are, how the Secretary and the DOD are taking the charges seriously, how the Department will hold violators accountable, how the ...
May 16, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Pace, George W. Casey, Jr., John P. Abizaid, Geoffrey D. Miller, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba
May 04, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1852
Email provides recipients with an updated strategy on detainee operations following the Army's discovery of detainee abuse. Original email/update is from Major General Geoffrey Miller.
Dec. 21, 2005
Email
Geoffrey D. Miller, Ricardo Sanchez, Thomas F. Metz
May 04, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 5121
CIA copy of the complete text of the Article 15-6 Investigation of the 800th Military Policy Brigade by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba (the U.S. Army's report on Iraqi prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad). The report is also known ...
Jan. 14, 2014
Other
Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez, David D. McKiernan, R. Steven Whitcomb, Kinard J. La Fate, Donald J. Ryder, Geoffrey D. Miller, Thomas Pappas, Jerry Phillabaum, Donald J. Reese , Janis Leigh Karpinski, Luciana Spencer, Jeremy C. Sivits, Sabrina D. Harman, Javal Sean Davis, Lynndie Rana England
May 03, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1200
Department of Defense Memo re: Talking Points on Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse. Public release.
May 16, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Pace, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez, Geoffrey D. Miller
Apr. 30, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5104
CIA copy of a New Yorker article tracing the responsibility for American soldiers brutalizing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib.
Mar. 15, 2013
Other
Janis Leigh Karpinski, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba, Ivan L. Frederick, II, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Javal Sean Davis, Megan M. Ambuhl, Sabrina D. Harman, Jeremy C. Sivits, Lynndie Rana England, Joseph M. Darby, Scott Bobeck, Jerry Phillabaum, Donald J. Ryder, Jason Kennel, Thomas Pappas, Steven Jordan, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ricardo Sanchez
EIT, Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Feb. 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 261
Col. describes how he received his assignment to Iraq and the conditions he found at Abu Ghraib prison. He also describes and an incident where he referred an "unauthorized detainee interview" to Gen Pappas and that was eventually given to Capt. ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, John P. Abizaid, Thomas Pappas, Carolyn A. Wood, Barbara G. Fast, Ricardo Sanchez, Steven L. Jordan, Luciana Spencer, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Walter Wojdakowski, Geoffrey D. Miller, Condoleeza Rice, Donald J. Ryder, Michael D. Thompson , Marc Warren
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Nudity
Feb. 15, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 269
Testimony of Major Anthony Cavallaro, 800th Military Police Brigade. Major Cavallaro described how he came in to his position, and how his unit was deployed to Iraq and on to Abu Ghraib prison. He relates his understanding of a detainee shooting ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Paul Hill, Ricardo Sanchez, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald J. Ryder, Anthony Cavallaro, Walter Wojdakowski, Joseph M. Poth , Michael Diamond, Thomas Pappas
Isolation, Nudity
Feb. 11, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 795
Interviewee, an AR 15-6 Investigating Officer. The interviewee briefly referred to two violations, one involving a claim of abuse by two female detainees. The women's claim was not described by the interviewee, but they claimed abuse by three ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Geoffrey D. Miller, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba
Physical assault, Other