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 (6709)

Detainee was captured in Altlafia by US forces on June 3, 2004. His hands were tied and he was placed in a tank. He claimed that inside the tank soldiers hit him in the stomach, nose and mouth area with their fists and a metal pipe. One ...
Mar. 02, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault
Email states "below is one more email I located regarding the FOIPA request" concerning an Abu Ghraib Prison Case. Mostly redacted.
Emails to Charles Cunningham re: Abu Ghraib Prision Case. Contents redacted.
May 18, 2005
Email
Charles J. Cunningham
Charles J. Cunningham
White House Cover Sheet re: Transmission Receipt of SOC Meeting on Detainees

Collection of 25 death certificates and summary of 30 detainee autopsy reports from Afghanistan and Iraq. Full autopsy reports can be found at ACLU RDI 991-1018.

Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy)
Physical assault, General
Memo discusses the result of the Office of Inspections special inquiry into abuse of detainees at Guantanamo after September 11, 2001. The office sent a survey to FBI employees who were assigned to Guantanamo after 9/11 requesting them to ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File
Valerie E. Caproni | Thomas J. Harrington
Valerie E. Caproni, Donald W. Thompson, Jr, Thomas J. Harrington, Robert D. Grant
Memo discusses the conclusion of the special inquiry into Guantanamo Bay abuse allegation after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The memo mentions the attachment of documents, the only one that is visible is a copy of handwritten notes, an FD-340, ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Notes
Robert D. Grant
CID report of investigation into a non-fatal shooting inside Camp Bucca, Iraq during a prison riot on September 22, 2003. The investigation determined that the use of live ammunition and the subsequent non-deadly shooting of one of the detainees ...
Mar. 02, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, Thom Jones
Physical assault
Two (2) suspects in the theft from the Iraqi National Guard (ING) Training Camp at Camp Junction City, allege being abused while in custody. Both suspects provided facts "proven to be false and established patterns of not providing the truth". ...
Autopsy No: ME04-435; Riadh Mohammed Abd Al Razak, a 52 year old male Iraqi civilian, collapsed while speaking to other detainees while in US custody. Resuscitative efforts were unsuccessful. Cause of Death: Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy)
Riadh Mohammed Abd Al Razak
Email contents redacted.
Email states that the author has experienced "unfavorable contact" with AUSA Robert Spencer of the Eastern District of Virginai regarding "WFO's failure to more aggressively address pending allegations". Specifically, AUSA Spencer berated an ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Alex J. Turner
Alex J. Turner, Robert A. Spencer
Contains info regarding Iraq prisoner cases; original e-mail 8/5/2004 sent to Alex J Turner asking whether there is any update on Iraq prisoner abuse case; subsequent e-mail 8/6/2004 copied to Alex Turner states "We have met with Army CID, ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Alex J. Turner
FBI Memo with emails attached concerning two (2) violent crime referrals: 1) Abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq; and 2) [Redacted] incident in Afghanistan. Both referrals have FBI Agents assigned and been deployed to to Iraq and ...
Email chain requests an update concerning a matter origionaly referred to Public Corruption Unit and mentions AUSA Robert Spencer of the Eastern District of Virginia becoming involved in the investigation. Includes 8/9/2004 e-mail noting that ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Alex J. Turner, Robert A. Spencer
Email from an FBI official requesting Charles Cunningham give an "update on the Iraq investigation you gave to AJ Turner" and is followed with a request by Charles Cunningham to another FBI official to be updated on the matter every two (2) weeks.
May 18, 2005
Email
Charles J. Cunningham
Charles J. Cunningham , Alex J. Turner
Charles Cunningham and FBI official discuss an update on the Washington Field Office's handling pf certain Iraq abuse cases. Charles Cunningham states that "this is a bit of a hot potato and I don't want to be the one who did not make something ...
May 18, 2005
Email
Charles J. Cunningham
Charles J. Cunningham
This is the Autopsy Report of Riadh Mohammed Abd Al Razak, a detainee at the Baghdad Central Confinement Facility (BCCF), Abu Ghraib, Baghdad, Iraq, It is reported that Mr. Al Razak suffered from coronary artery disease and a previous heart ...
Jan. 14, 2011
Medical (Autopsy)
Riadh Mohammed Abd Al Razak
This series of letters contains the original inquiry from Macbeth Bertrand Henry, President of the Commission on Children's Rights about juvenile detainees in Guantanamo Bay prison. The response letter from Pierre-Richard Prosper asserts that ...
May 15, 2012
Letter
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Macbeth Bertrand-Henry
Investigation into allegation by detainee that a US soldier kicked him in the back of the legs, back, and stomach while he was at a detention camp at Mahmodia, Baghdad. The detainee also reported he was hooded with a sandbag, handcuffed him with ...
This detainee is being re-interviewed concerning statements he made when captured in Afghanistan. Specifically, the detainee is being questioned on his purchase and ownership of a car and how it was that he came in to possession of a certain ...
Email refers to a news article, which discusses the U.S. Military's CID investigation into allegations of murder and torture of an 18-year-old Afghan Army recruit who was detained by the U.S. The article also discusses the torture of seven Afghan ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Todd F. Buchwald
Joshua L. Dorosin | Ed Cummings
Todd F. Buchwald, Frank E. Schmelzer , Joshua L. Dorosin, Edward R. Cummings
Emails discuss an upcoming OSCE meeting. The author of the original email believes the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib will be a central focus of the meeting and wants to come up with a plan to discuss the issue and move onto other business.
State Department cable concerning the transfer of Yaser Esam Hamdi from US custody to Saudi Arabia as reported in the newspapers.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Yaser Esam Hamdi
Investigation into two detainees' allegation that they had been assaulted by U.S. forces while being transported from Camp Cuervo to Abu Ghraib. One detainee reported that the soldier who assaulted him said "It's all because of you mother ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General

Tribunal determined that the detainee in question has been accurately classified as an enemy combatant and that he engaged in hostilities against coalition forces. Tribunal further showed that the detainee conducted surveillance of buildings, ...

Nov. 30, 2005
CSRT
Mamdouh Ibrahim Ahmed Habib
Other

An OLC memo to the CIA addressing whether the use of "twelve particular interrogation techniques (attention grasp, walling, facial hold, facial slap (insult slap), cramped confinement, wall standing, stress positions, sleep depravation, ...

Email from Daniel Levin to John Rizzo discussing whether the use of twelve interrogation techniques in the interrogation of Sharif al-Masri would violate any U.S. statute, the U.S. Constitution, or any treaty obligation of the U.S.
An OLC memo to the CIA addressing whether the use of "twelve particular interrogation techniques (attention grasp, walling, facial hold, facial slap (insult slap), cramped confinement, wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation, dietary ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
An OLC memo to the CIA addressing whether the use of "twelve particular interrogation techniques (attention grasp, walling, facial hold, facial slap (insult slap), cramped confinement, wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation, dietary ...
Detainees were involved in a physical altercation after previous threats of physical harm. Actions taken against both detainees were segregation and loss of comfort items (CI).
Second report of the incident that was recorded in ACLU-RDI 600. One detainee accused another of communicating threats of physical harm and lying to interrogators. Two detainees were involved in a physical altercation the next day. Medical ...
Emails between Valerie Caproni and John Curran re: NCIS request for documents on detainees
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
John F. Curran
Valerie E. Caproni, John F. Curran
Investigation into a soldier accused of robbery and malingering after he stole 180,000 Iraqi Dinar from two homes during a patrol search and then shot himself in the foot after being informed that he would be recommended for disciplinary action ...
Emails between FBI IOfficials concerning news from Iraq over Abu Ghraib prison. There is a reference to photos and awaiting a response from an unidentified Special Agent re his whereabouts when he was present at Abu Ghraib Prison.
Emails between JoAnn Dolan Cynthis Francisco, Edward Betancourt and others re: Hamdi Cable. The email has an attachment with the comment "All Agree?" The attached document in entitled "Cable - Clarification on Hamdi."
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
The document is an internal FBI memorandum from the Records Management Division, regarding the search and collection of all systems for information concerning any and all foreign detainees in U.S. custody held outside the United States from ...
This Army memo from Major General Robert Wilson, Commander of the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate Office at Ft. Carson, CO. is to transfer two (2) Court-Martial Cases to Ft. Hood TX for disposition. The document is heavily redacted as to the ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson
The document is an internal FBI email, regarding requests made by the NCIS for documents related to two specific detainees as well as information related to allegations of abuse.
June 15, 2011
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
This document consists of FBI penalty guidelines, which are used to assess the proper penalty for various types of FBI misconduct. It features the an explanation and purpose of penalties, and then provides detailed instructions on different ...
This document consists of FBI penalty guidelines, which are used to assess the proper penalty for various types of FBI misconduct. It features the an explanation and purpose of penalties, and then provides detailed instructions on different ...
Request guidance on units involved in detainee operations in Afghanistan
Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Julian Burns
Julian H. Burns
These emails are a follow-up to a task request to provide information on military detainee units deployed to Afghanistan in 2002.
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
Geoffrey D. Miller
When Soldiers were attacked with small arms and an RPG several Iraqi nationals were taken in to custody; tried; and convicted of the offence. This CID report is the record of that judicial proceeding. One Iraqi was found guilty of attempted ...
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 ...
FBI memo detailing FBI agents experience and observations while touring Camp Delta, Guantanamo. This memo is related to ACLU RDI 4893, 4895 and 4896.