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 (33)

Testimony of Captain Lawrence Bush, Inspector General, 800th Military Police Brigade. Capt. Lawrence stated his job as "I am the eyes and ears for the commander. I try to test the climate to see if everything is fine, if it is not I report any ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Lawrence Bush, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Testimony of First Lieutenant Elvis Mabry, Aide de Camp to Brigadier General Karpinski, 800th Military Police Brigade. As it pertains to responsibility for the running of Abu Ghraib, 1st Lt. Mabry stated “It is my understanding that when the ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Elvis Mabry, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Paul Hill, Ricardo Sanchez
Testimony of Command Sergeant Major Joseph P. Arrison, 320th Military Police Battalion. CMS Arrison was not originally deployed with his unit and was “held back” at Ft. Dix and in the rear in Iraq when the incidents of detainee abuse that ...
Testimony of Command Sargent Major Pascual Cartagena, 800th Military Police Battalion. CMS Cartagena stated “I was an Individual Replacement [to the 800th MP Brigade] I was not associated with the 800th MP Brigade prior to this assignment I have ...
Testimony of Command Sergeant Major Timonth L. Woodcock, 310th Military Police Battalion. CSM Woodcock related his impression of the unit by saying "The soldiers' standards that were lacking were in the common soldier task area. Specifically the ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Timonth L. Woodcock, Janis Leigh Karpinski
Testimony of Sergeant Major Mark Emerson, Operations Sergeant Major, 320th Military Police Battalion. Sergeant Major Mark Emerson was the Operations SGM for the 320th MP Battalion since 1999. He gave his impression of the Brigade’s operations and ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Mark Emerson, Janis Leigh Karpinski
Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Testimony of First Sergeant Brian G. Lipinski, 372nd Military Police Company.1SG Lipinski was under suspension from his 1SG duties at the time of this interview. He described his unit and how they arrived in Iraq. He said “Our soldiers have 3 ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Brian G. Lipinski, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Thomas Pappas
Testimony of Sergeant First Class Keith A. Comer, Platoon Sergeant, 229th Military Police Company. SFC Comer verified an incident he previously reported involving 2-3 Military Intelligence personnel abusing a detainee. He said he and other ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Keith A. Comer, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, General
Testimony of Sergeant First Class Shannon K. Snider, Platoon Sergeant, 372nd Military Police Company. SFC Snider's duties were as the NCOIC of the hard site. Her duties included working to safeguard prisoners, make sure inmates receive meals on ...
Testimony of Sergeant First Class Keith A. Comer, 372nd Military Police Company. SFC Comer described that he came in to his position as the Company's 1st Sargent because the previous 1st Sargent has been suspended from his duties pending the ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, Keith A. Comer, Janis Leigh Karpinski
Isolation