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 (69)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Detainee reported that he was arrested after US forces after a raid on his home. He states that while in detention at the Baghdad International Airport he was interrogated and claims to have been spat upon and knocked to the ground. He alleges ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Other Humiliation
A detainee who was held in US custody claims to have been “beaten” in an unspecific manner and by persons whom he could not describe and at a location and time that could not be determined. Despite this, a thorough investigation listed the ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault
This CID investigation concerns an investigation in to detainee abuse in Afghanistan. A New York Times newspaper was releasing a story on 12 May 04, concerning allegations of a Afghan Police Colonel that was alleged to be abused by U.S. Forces in ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Sexual, Assault/death, Physical assault, Threat
Detainee reported that he was arrested after US forces found a weapon in his home. He was detained at Al Sijood Palace, Iraq, and it was during this detention he states he was hooded; flexicuffed; punched; kicked; yelled at; and threatened. ...
Detainee alleged that while at Abu Ghraib prison several soldiers slapped; punched; choked; struck his head, shoulders, and arms with a retractable metal baton; jumped on him; forced him to lean against a wall in a seated position; forced him to ...
A detainee claims that he was in a vehicle with other Iraqi men who possessed AK-47s. The men attempted to avoid a road-side checkpoint and were stopped by US gunfire. While the men were detained at the roadside, several Iraqi civilians began to ...
A detainee claims that after he was apprehended, but before being detained at Abu Ghraib prison, he was brought to an unknown facility (presumably the Baghdad International Airport), interrogated and beaten. The report confirmed the detainee was ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, General
Detainee alleged being kicked and punched, shocked with a Taser, and threatened at knifepoint at Kheriolla House. Detainee said his face was covered with plaster until he almost suffocated. Medic examined detainee to determine if he was fit to ...
A detainee was taken in to custody on January 10, 2004 and alleged he was abused during his arrest by being kicked in the face while he was restrained, hooded and in a kneeling position. He also states while detained at Camp Biap, Baghdad he was ...
Investigation established probable cause to believe unidentified persons committed the offense of Cruelty and Maltreatment when they flex-cuffed the detainees in positions for long periods of time causing extended amounts of stress on the joints ...