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 (38)

This document, prepared by the Chief of Medical Services, summarizes and reflects upon the rendition, detention and interrogation program. The findings include that in a particular no evidence was found that the use of waterboard produced ...
This is a heavily redacted message from John Rizzo to Michael Hayden, Michael Morell, and Stephen Kappes, describing an ICRC meeting with detainees and how the detainees' allegations to the ICRC do not "sound far removed from the reality."
June 13, 2016
Email
John A. Rizzo
Michael Hayden, Stephen Kappes, John A. Rizzo, Michael Morell
This memorandum prepared for Steve Bradbury details intelligence the CIA obtained through the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.
This heavily redacted memo asks that language discussing the legality of given activities and judgment calls from senior agency officials not be included in written traffic.
This message from Scott Muller to James Pavitt describes a planned move of CIA detainees from Guantanamo in light of an upcoming Supreme Court case which will decide whether Guantanamo is U.S. territory.
June 13, 2016
Email
Scott Muller
James Pavitt
James Pavitt, George Tenet, John McLaughlin, John Moseman, Scott W. Muller, Patrick Philbin
This is a heavily redacted message discussing OMS concerns about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques and the legal responsibility for the program.
This heavily redacted message contains draft talking points for the press on the interrogation program.
A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation. The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness of detention ...
June 13, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
CIA General Counsel
Jack Goldsmith
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Environmental manipulation, Temperature