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 (30)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
OLC | ACLU-RDI 4597

Summary of OLC legal advice to the Counsel to the President, the CIA, and the DoD regarding the CIA's and DoD's interrogation programs. [OLC Vaughn Index # 159]

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo
Alberto R. Gonzales
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Walling, General, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation
Feb. 25, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4612

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 ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Non-legal Memo
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
Dec. 03, 2014 | Legislative | ACLU-RDI 5935
In March 2009, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence decided to initiate a review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. On December 13, 2012 the Committee voted to approve its Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention ...
Apr. 08, 2009
Oversight Report
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Website
John Helgerson, Alberto Gonzalez, David Addington, Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell , Steven Bradbury, Jose Rodriguez, Rizzo, Condoleezza Rice, Richard B. Cheney, George Bush, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, William "Jim" Haynes, John Yoo, Jay Bybee
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Mock Burial, Rendition, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced grooming, Forced physical training
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5965
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Other
Feb. 22, 2007 | CID | ACLU-RDI 4537

This CID Report investigates numerous allegations of abuse that occurred in September and November of 2003 in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib Prison. Included in the file is the testimony of detainee victims and members of the 372nd Military Police ...

Nov. 05, 2008
Investigative File (CID)
Habibullah, Dilawar
Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Sexual, Physical assault, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation
June 07, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4942
A detainee interviewed at Camp Delta, Guantanamo stated that approximately three to four weeks earlier, while at Camp X-Ray US soldiers entered his cell and began to beat him without cause or reason. He claims they called him a “son of a bitch” ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Isolation
Jan. 15, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 494
Commander's report of a 15-6 Investigation and Courts-Martial, dated December 2003. This document pertains to allegations that U.S. soldiers broke the jaw of an Iraqi high school boy. There is evidence that suggests the 311th MI personnel and/or ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Photograph, Interview (Statement), UCMJ (Court-Martial)
David Petraeus
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Walling, General, Threat, Assault/death, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Forced physical training
Apr. 30, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 425

Letter from Detainee's counsel to Army Claims Service for alleged abuse, torture and other mistreatment by U.S. Army in Iraq. The attorney is making the claim under the Military Claimns ack and seeks compensation in excess of $100,000.00. The ...

Feb. 28, 2005
Legal Memo, Letter
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Assault/death, Rendition, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Isolation, Threat
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
CIA | ACLU-RDI 6552
This report details the investigation into the death of Gul Rahman. This re-released report includes a description of psychologist Bruce Jessen and his role in the interrogation of Gul Rahman.
Oversight Report
CIA Office of the Inspector General
Bruce Jessen, John Helgerson, James Mitchell
Gul Rahman
EIT, Use of water, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Attention grasp, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity