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 (79)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Request to Col. James Whitmore-DOD for permission for team to visit Guantanamo detainees.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Carol A. Rodley
James A. Whitmore
James A. Whitmore
This DOS Cable discusses a visit to a detention facility in Afghanistan. It explains that there was a previous issue at the facility of overcrowding and lack of resources, but that the current climate is better. Also, the cable notes that the ...
State Department Inter-Agency document Cover letter, no attachment; no content.
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice

A memo from Secretary Rumsfeld approving a set of interrogation techniques, including some that it admits may be "inconsistent with" provisions of the Geneva Conventions.  The techniques include "Pride and Ego Down," ...

Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee accused Pakistani Police with giving him electric shocks and U.S. troops of beating him. He said he was yelled at by interrogators in Kandahar and then admitted to lying to them ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Use of electricity
This is a heavily redacted summary notes from an interviewed a detainee conducted at Camp Delta, Guantanamo. The detainee is not named, but he asks when will he will be released, he also stated that he was not abused or tortured, but expressed ...
Interview of detainee at Guantanamo. The detainee stated he was "fine" when asked about his health, but appeared to be physically tired and complained of being mentally exhausted. The interviewer offered the detainee fresh fruit and water and ...
May 18, 2005
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Isolation
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee stated that before his arrest he believed in the humane treatment of prisioners in the United States. For this reason, when he was first interrogated, he cooperated with ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee was asked about his health and he stated he was in relatively good health but suffered from occasional headaches and dental ailments. The interview proceeded and the detainee was ...
Interview of detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The interviewers asked the detainee if he was going to talk if they allowed him to pray. The detainee responded by saying "you have subjected me to mental stress for eight (8) days, why should I talk to ...