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 (42)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 17, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3574
This State Department cable is a report on detainees as well as an assessment of the ground situation in Afghanistan. The cable focuses on a description of the Qandahar airport holding facility holding the Cuba-bound al-Qaida and Taliban ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad, Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Stephen Hadley, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz
May 10, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3601
DOS Letter to U.S. Representative, Ike Skelton, regarding the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) report, which contains allegations of detainee mistreatment in Iraq.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, Isaac Newton Skelton IV, Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, P. Michael McKinley, William E. Landfair, Paul V. Kelly, Elizabeth H. Richard
May 11, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3622
DOS Note cover sheet with handwritten notation sent from Jack Straw to Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleeza Rice and George Tenet are CC'd. No other relevant text.
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jack Straw, Condoleeza Rice, George J. Tenet, Frank E. Schmelzer
May 11, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3646
DOS Memo from Arthur E. Dewey to Sec. Powell requesting an meeting with ICRC President, Jakob Kellenberger on either May 27 or 28. The purpose of the meeting is to exchange views on key humanitarian issues relating to detainees in Iraq.
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Richard L. Greene
Colin L. Powell
Daniel B. Smith, Richard L. Greene, Arthur E. Dewey , Frank E. Schmelzer , Condoleeza Rice, Paula J. Dobriansky, William Howard Taft, IV, Donald H. Rumsfeld, P. Michael McKinley, Jonathan S. Carpenter, JoAnn J. Dolan, Ronald W. Miller, Colin L. Powell
Dec. 11, 2003 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3647
DOS Memo from Arthur E. Dewey to Sec. Powell requesting an meeting with ICRC President, Jakob Kellenberger on either January 12-16. The purpose of the meeting is to exchange views on key humanitarian issues relating to detainees in Iraq.
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Arthur E. Dewey
Colin L. Powell
Daniel B. Smith, Arthur E. Dewey , Condoleeza Rice, Paula J. Dobriansky, William Howard Taft, IV, Paul Wolfowitz, P. Michael McKinley, Carol T. Santos, John Allen Buche, Colin L. Powell
Jan. 15, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 3655
ICRC Press Release regarding a meeting between the President of the ICRC, Jakob Kellneberger and Colin L. Powell. It states that during Kellenberger's meeting with government officials, the ICRC president will review in particular the situation ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Other
Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, William E. Landfair
Jan. 16, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 3656
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Press Release summarizing a meeting between ICRC Kellenberger and DOS officials, including Colin L. Powell. It notes that Kellenberger, in his meetings with Powell, Rice and Wolfowitz, "lamented the ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Other
Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, William E. Landfair
Sept. 30, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4627
This is a State Department talking points memo on how to address the issues of detainees and detainee abuse. It references speeches and interviews that President Bush and other administration officials have given to describe and give context as ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush, Scott McClellan, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, L. Paul Bremer, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice
Feb. 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 261
Col. describes how he received his assignment to Iraq and the conditions he found at Abu Ghraib prison. He also describes and an incident where he referred an "unauthorized detainee interview" to Gen Pappas and that was eventually given to Capt. ...
Oct. 19, 2004
Interview (Transcript)
Antonio Taguba, David D. McKiernan, John P. Abizaid, Thomas Pappas, Carolyn A. Wood, Barbara G. Fast, Ricardo Sanchez, Steven L. Jordan, Luciana Spencer, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Walter Wojdakowski, Geoffrey D. Miller, Condoleeza Rice, Donald J. Ryder, Michael D. Thompson , Marc Warren
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Nudity
May 03, 2004 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 5
Letter regarding abuse of prisoners urging government to take steps in situation. Refers to Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report regarding the inquiry into the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
May 18, 2004
Letter
Kenneth Roth
Condoleeza Rice
Condoleeza Rice, George J. Tenet, Antonio Taguba, William J. Haynes, II