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 (58)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
This May 28, 2003 email states that going forward Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen will be doing much less in the interrogation role and more strategic consulting work, research and program development projects, and more in the psychology role. The ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Email
Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell
Abu Zubaydah
This 2002 chronology of events details Gul Rahman's time at COBALT including the assessments and interviews conducted of him and the interrogation techniques he was subjected to, according to cable reports and visits. It also lists the dates ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Chart/List
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity, Other
This is an undated note from Jim Mitchell in which he proposes his ideas for "the broad features of the training program" and offers his and Bruce Jessen's help putting the training together and delivering it or helping to "craft the product". ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo, Letter
James Mitchell
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
This document contains interview notes of a redacted official discussing their knowledge of the events surrounding Gul Rahman's death. The interview discusses different detention conditions at the COBALT site and the kinds of conditions Gul ...
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity
This cable states that after cold conditions with minimal food and sleep, Gul Rahman admitted his identity to interrogators, including Bruce Jessen. Rahman was also reportedly confused and appeared somewhat incoherent.
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
This cable states that the CIA may make plans to relocate Gul Rahman to a different site to implement enhanced interrogation measures after his refusal to cooperate with interrogator Bruce Jessen.
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation
This CIA cable outlines the recommended interrogation plan for Gul Rahman and states that it should include "environmental deprivation" and "concentrated interrogation exposure." Specifically, sleep loss and fatigue are suggested as most ...
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation
This document is a memorandum from the chief of the Counterintelligence Evaluation Branch of the Counterespionage Group in the Counterintelligence Center about an interview conducted with John B. Jessen regarding the death of Gul Rahman.
This heavily redacted cable provides authorization and authority for Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell to use the full range of level 1 EITs and the level 2 water board. All envelope information is redacted.
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo, Cable
Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
This letter provides Bruce Jessen, of Mitchell, Jessen and Associates LLC confirmation of Verbal Authorization to Proceed Not to Exceed for DCI's Counterterrorist Center (CTC) Elicitation and Training for a CTC Project (name of Project redacted ...
Nov. 23, 2016
Other
Contracting Officer
Bruce Jessen
Bruce Jessen