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 (109)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 31, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4350
State Department cable concerning the world's perception that the US was treating its detainees improperly was undermining the moral high ground upon which the anti-terror coalition stands. The cable also gives some insight to off-record meetings ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell, Daniel Ray Coats
Jan. 26, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4347
DOS Cable re: Update on Various Issues for the Secretary: Guantanamo; NATO; and Foreign Affairs
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Jan. 26, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4348
DOS Cable re: Update on Various Issues for the Secretary: Guantanamo; U.S.-Canadian Relations; and Foreign Affairs.
Jan. 24, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4345
State Department cable concerning Australian Prime Minister Howard's upcoming trip to New York for the World Economic Forum. The cable states that PM Howard has expressed his support for Operation Enduring Freedom and the international effort ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
John Thomas Schieffer
Colin L. Powell
John Thomas Schieffer, Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush
Jan. 23, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4346
State Department cable concerning the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Staff meeting notes from January 23, 2002. Multiple topics, including detainees. "Public Reaction re detainees is turning very negative." Concerns of various countries ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Paula J. Dobriansky
Jan. 17, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4343
State Department cable concerning the Tokyo Conference; the transfer of detainees to Guantanamo; the ability and schedule of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit Guantanamo facilities and the detainees; and the ability of ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Jan. 23, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4344
State Department cable to Washington informing them that a Foreign Minister has made a request for a visitation of one of his nation's citizens being held at Guantanamo. The cable is heavily redacted.
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Jan. 14, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4341
State department Embassy cable informing Washington that they have informed a Foreign Affairs Minister of the transfer of some of his nation's citizens to Guantanamo. The Foreign Minister expressed concern over the reports of detainee’s abuse, ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Jan. 16, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4342
State Department cable providing information to Washington about Assistant Secretary William Burns visiting Kuwait on January 11-12 for Consultations with the Kuwaiti Government Focused on Operation Enduring Freedom, Middle East Peace, the U.S. ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, John Dimitri Negroponte
June 07, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4339
State Department cable regarding the release of a biography of a former Danish Guantanamo detainee, Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane. Mr. Abderrahmane has not made any public statements alleging mistreatment, but the Danish press is highlighting the ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane
Physical assault, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Forced grooming, Other Humiliation