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 (254)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 25, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2983
This FBI memo concerns the activities of FBI personnel at Abu Ghraib prison from October 2003 to December 2003. The FBI conducted 15 interviews of military personnel, each being present at Abu Ghraib prison at some point during October 2003 & ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Other
FBI | ACLU-RDI 3024
FBI Memo concerning FBI personal's knowledge and documentation of detainee and prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Antonio Taguba
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
July 09, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3046
FBI agent observed a detainee shackled to a chair with loud rock music playing and a strobe light flashing.
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
July 30, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3048
FBI agent details abuse of detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Religious
June 29, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3080
Email to M. Chris Briese concerning a statement of an Iraqi civilian detained by the 2/501st Military Police (MP) Unit at Abu Ghraib Prison, Baghdad, Iraq. The detainee states he was turtored "from morning until the morning of the next day"; ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Gary M. Bald
M. Chris Briese | Valerie E. Caproni
Gary M. Bald, Valerie E. Caproni, M. Chris Briese, Thomas J. Harrington, Edward H. Lueckenhoff
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, General, Stomach/abdominal slap, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Other
Nov. 04, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3094
FBI Letter from T. J. Harrington to the Dept. of Defense concerning suspected mistreatment of detainees. The letter notifies DOD of three separate incidents of "highly aggressive interrogation techniques being used against detainees in ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Letter
Thomas J. Harrington
William J. Haynes, II, Marion E. Bowman, Thomas J. Harrington
Physical assault, Sexual, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious
May 22, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3106
These emails are to clarify an Electronic Communication (EC) sent by the FBI's Office of the General Counsel to field agents informing them that they must report incidents of abuse that they know of or become aware of. The initial email requests ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Gary M. Bald | M. Chris Briese | Valerie E. Caproni | Thomas J. Harrington | Frankie Battle | Arthur M. Cummings, II
Gary M. Bald, Valerie E. Caproni, Arthur M. Cummings, II, Frankie Battle, Thomas J. Harrington, M. Chris Briese, George W. Bush
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
May 07, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3121
Emails between Valerie E. Caproni, John F. Curran, T.J. Harrington, and Others re: Reported incidents of possible detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay. An NAE official reports three incidents he/she witnessed while in Guantanamo Bay on or around ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Thomas J. Harrington
John F. Curran | Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni, Jay W. Hood, Thomas J. Harrington, John F. Curran
Threat, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3132
An FBI agent touring Guantanamo witnessed four (4) seperate incidents of detainee abuse, including stess positions, extreme hot/cold rooms, isolation and the use of loud music upon the detainees.
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3281
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI official observed a ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni, Steven C. McCraw
Physical assault, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other