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 (85)

An undated CIA memo arguing that the CIA's interrogation program does not violate the Convention Against Torture, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A, or 18 U.S.C. § 2441. Part of the memo relies upon the contention that so long as ...

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 ...

On 24 Dec 2003 American forces raided a house in the Slaikh Alrabee neighborhood of Baghdad. The men inside were taken in to custody with blindfolds and cuffed behind their backs. The men allege that during their arrest they were abused by being ...
Major General Michael Dunlavey was interviewed regarding his knowledge of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO). MG Dunlavey arrived to GTMO on or about December 13, 2002 as the Commander of the Joint Task Force-170. In regards to ...
Interview of FBI Official-member of the Behavioral Science Division, interviewee was stationed at Guantanamo, Bay from mid-September 2002 until the end of October 2002. The agent stated that he witnessed at least three incidents of abuse, ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
John T. Furlow
Physical assault, General, Threat, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Religious, Forced grooming, Other
Interview (conducted via email) of a former Psychiatrist with the Behavioral Science Consultation Team (BSCT). The interviewee witnessed the use of dogs during the interrogation of a detainee, and observed female interrogators using sexual ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
Major General Geoffrey D. Miller was the Commanding General for the Joint Task Force in Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) from November 4, 2002 to March 26, 2004. He was interviewed regarding his knowledge of detainee abuse at GTMO. He mentioned that his ...
FBI memo from interviewing FBI agents who toured through Camp Delta, Camp X-Ray and the Naval Brig at Guantanamo. The agents stated that they witnessed several acts of abuse and the memo provides their accounts in detail. Memo notes the ...
Handwritten notes of FBI agent deployed to Guantanamo. Agent notes are a timeline of his activities witnessing interviews and detainee abuse at Camp Delta, Guantanamo. The typed-out version of these notes are in ACLU RDI 4893 and email ACLU RDI ...