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 (90)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
July 14, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3017

FBI letter from T. J. Harrington, Deputy Assistant Director, FBI to Gen. Ryder Major General US Army Criminal Investigation Command describing three (3) situations observed by FBI agents of highly aggressive interrogation techniques/assault ...

Dec. 15, 2004
Letter
Thomas J. Harrington
Donald J. Ryder
Thomas J. Harrington, Donald J. Ryder, Marion E. Bowman, Robert L. Dietz, Daniel Dell'Orto
Physical assault, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Use of phobias, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious
Sept. 30, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2690
Sworn statement of medical personnel mentions being told of detainee's death from hypothermia. The detainee was brought in to the detention facility and was later transferred to a medical facility where he died. The allegations are that the ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual
June 06, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2597
Statement of a US Army major. Contains summaries of interviews with two detainees. First detainee, who was arrested on December 24, 2003, reported that he was "beaten ... and punched, ... hung by a nail from the wall with his hands bound behind ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Sexual, General, Stress positions
June 20, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2554
Sworn statement by a Iraqi national who became a detainee at Abu Ghraib along with his sister and brother. He claims that his brother was with the Saddam regime and when he went to visit his sister in Iraq he was taken in to custody as a detainee ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Dietary manipulation
June 26, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2552
Sworn statement by an Iraqi detainee, referring to abuse of the detainee and her brothers and sister at Adamiya. States, "I saw an Iraqi put a bottle in my brother's rectum. There were Iraqi people doing it and Americans watching. There were six ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual
June 06, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2551
Sworn statement by a screener at Abu Ghraib prison regarding two (2) Iraqi women and their two (2) brothers detained at Abu Ghraib prison in January 2004. States, "One [brother] said he was raped with a bottle, and they mentioned another brother ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Nudity, Sexual, Other Humiliation
June 27, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2548
Sworn statement by a detainee who claimed to have served in the Iraqi Army as a technician. Detainee states that he was handcuffed and had a bag put over his head. He was held "for 17 days" with a bag over his head, "handcuffed to the floor." ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Dietary manipulation
July 18, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2546
Sworn statement of a government civilian employee (GS-12) regarding detention practices. Mentions detainees "who were complaining" and who "had obvious injuries to their faces, their wrists, and water blisters on their legs." According to the ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Other Humiliation, Sexual
July 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2533
CID Report summarizing findings related to allegations of abuse at Adhamiya, most of which are unfounded. States, "Investigation established probable cause to believe [names redacted] committed the offense of False Official Statement" in ...
June 30, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Sexual
Mar. 24, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2531
Documents related to CID Investigations 0233-03-CID259-61217 and 0022-04-CID149-. Includes two Agent's Investigative Reports and a translation of a statement provided by a detainee. The first Agent's Investigative report summarizes interviews ...
June 30, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Walling, Sexual, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling