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 (48)

This document was faxed from the CIA to Steven Bradbury (OLC). It describes the CIA's technique of "horizontal sleep deprivation," wherein a detainee is placed on a large blanket on the floor and chained such that he cannot sleep. ...

Lengthy, but almost entirely redacted, document that apparently discusses the CIA’s detention and interrogation program for “high value targets.” The document provides some detail regarding the “standard” and ...

Executive Summary discussing the U.S. Southern Command's request to use additional interrogation techniques. On April 16, 2003, the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, approved the following techniques: change of scenery down, which was ...
Memorandum to General Geoffrey Miller regarding Secretary of Defense (SECDEF), Donald Rumsfeld's memorandum. The memo to Gen. Miller seeks clarification on the use of certain techniques, including a concern about the removal of the Koran from ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo
James T. Hill
Geoffrey D. Miller
Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald H. Rumsfeld, James T. Hill
Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Other
FBI Interviewed the Special Agent regarding his assignment to Guantanamo Bay. The agent was assigned to Guantanamo Bay as an interrogator from June 2, 2003 to July 17, 2003. During that time, the interviewee occasionally observed DOD personnel ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
FBI agent who toured through Camp Delta, Guantanamo states he did not participate in, nor did he observe any FBI personnel conduct any interviews that were aggressive or inconsistent with FBI protocols. The memo states "did not witness or observe ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo
Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious
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 agent whose tenure of ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual
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 agent touring through ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Sleep deprivation
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 agent touring through ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Sleep deprivation
Memorandum appointing Brigadier General John T. Furlow as the investigating officer for an AR 15-6 investigation into allegations made by the FBI regarding detainee abuse at Guantanamo. Allegations include the use of dogs, impersonation of FBI ...