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 (60)

DOS Cable discusses the transfer for release of detainees at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). It states that the detainee's host governments are willing to accept the nationals. The names and countries of the detainees are listed, but redacted.
Letter and fax cover sheet from Amnesty International's Program Director, Susan Lee, to Colin L. Powell. The letter refers to another letter that discusses the treatment of Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects in U.S. custody in Afghanistan [that letter ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Frank E. Schmelzer
In response to allegations made by non-governmental agencies, the IACHR issued to the DOS a Request for Precautionary Measures, asking that U.S. to have the legal status of Guantanamo detainees determined by a competent tribunal, and also ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Notes
Mary P. Stickles, Francis M. Gaffney, Frank E. Schmelzer
Memo states that a number of non-governmental agencies filed a petition before the IACHR, in which they alleged that the U.S. violated international law by mistreating Guantanamo detainees. In response to the allegations, the IACHR issued to the ...
No relevant text.
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell, Frank E. Schmelzer
No relevant text.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Frank E. Schmelzer
No relevant text.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Frank E. Schmelzer
Photographs are indiscernible.
Nov. 23, 2004
Photograph
Frank E. Schmelzer
State Department memo discussing a recent petition filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) against the U.S.. The CCR's petition alleges that the U.S. government's treatment ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Otto J. Reich | Roger F. Noriega
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Otto J. Reich, Roger F. Noriega, Frank E. Schmelzer
DOS Note cover sheet with handwritten notation sent from Jack Straw to Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice and George Tenet are CC'd. No other relevant text.