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 (42)

Detainee alleged that he was captured in mid-April, 2004 at his house in Ammaria (Al Amiryah), Iraq, held at a U.S. facility in Ammaria, then transferred to Baghdad Airport and, finally, Abu Ghraib. The detainee alleged that, at Ammaria, two ...

Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Other Humiliation

An investigation into a detainee's allegation that he was "tortured" at a U.S. facility in Mosul in March 2004. Detainee indicated that after being arrested but before arriving at the facility, his captors -- American men in civilian ...

Detainee alleged that he was arrested by U.S. forces and placed in a hole in the ground with other detainees at an unknown location in Samara, Iraq for about three days, then threatened with death and taken to a room where he was placed on a box ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson, Jacqueline J. Scott
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of phobias, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming, Other
Investigation into two detainees' allegation that they had been assaulted by U.S. forces while being transported from Camp Cuervo to Abu Ghraib. One detainee reported that the soldier who assaulted him said "It's all because of you mother ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General
Report of investigation of detainee’s allegation that a male U.S. soldier had slapped him across the face, causing him to bleed from the nose or the mouth and pushing him into concertina wire at the base of a chain link fence, causing the ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General
Investigation initiated after Military Police (MP) sent memo to CID re two detainees who related physical abuse in two separate instances: one by two unidentified Iraqi National Guard (ING) soldiers and two unknown U.S. soldiers, and the second ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General
CID Report of investigation into detainee's allegation that he was Hooded, roughly handled and choked by a U.S. soldier after being captured in his home. The interrogation reports (Secret) did reveal any allegations of abuse, and the detainee ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
CID Report of investigation into detainee's allegation that, as 2 U.S. soldiers and an interpreter entered and searched his home, a third U.S. soldier walked in and struck him in the mouth with the butt of his rifle. Medical record states ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General
Investigation prompted by NYT article containing victim's allegations of torture and abuse during detention in Abu Ghraib from November 29 through December 31, 2003. Investigation concludes there is not “sufficient evidence to prove or disprove ...
CID Report of investigation into detainee's allegations of abuse while in U.S. custody at Mosul Airport, Iraq, over three day period. The detainee claimed to have sustained a bruise to his left shoulder and scratched during his capture. Once in ...