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 (387)

Report of investigation into accusations of cruelty and maltreatment of an 18-year-old Iraqi civilian during an interrogation at an unknown detention facility in Baghdad, Iraq. The report was unable to make any conclusions about the truth of the ...
Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Report of investigation into alleged abuse of a detainee between January 2 and October 2, 2002 at Bagram Airfield. The victim suffered aggravated assault (beating). Efforts were made between May 17 and July 7, 2004 to interview the victim, who ...
Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Doris Lama, Jacqueline J. Scott
Physical assault, General
Detainee Abduhl Kaddim Altia, a diabetic, died at Abu Ghraib on May 22, 2004. An autopsy ruled the cause of death "natural" (Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease). His son, who was also detained at Abu Ghraib at this time, reported that two ...
Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson, Jacqueline J. Scott
Abduhl Kaddim Altia

Investigation into charges against 7 soldiers for abusing an unknown Iraqi detainee, shooting at seized vehicles, and/or maintaining possession of weapons seized in Baghdad. A specialist testified that an Iraqi man was handed over to U.S. ...

Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott
Physical assault, General

Investigation into possible abuse in Tikrit, Iraq. A detainee alleged that he had been slapped in the face by an Iraqi interpreter during an interrogation and said that he had been held in a cramped cell with loud music, not allowed food, ...

Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Cramped confinement, Dietary manipulation, Light or sound, Environmental manipulation

Investigation of assault by soldier who threatened to kill Iraqi civilians in custody of U.S. forces in an army compound in Baghdad, Iraq. The soldier forced a detainee to hold a round in his hands, threatening to kill him with it if he did ...

Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott
Threat, Assault/death
Investigation into report of detainee abuse after a soldier had given his wife several compact disks containing images depicting the possible abuse of detainees. The investigation determined that the CD revealed pictures of detainees from ...

Investigation into a recordable compact disc containing images of suspected detainee abuse in in Afghanistan between January 11 and January 19, 2004. The images on the CD depicted U.S. soldiers holding weapons on hooded and bound local ...

Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Threat, Assault/death, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Investigation into a soldier accused of stealing prayer beads and headwraps from prisoners at Camp Delta Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay between April and July 2003. The investigation commenced after the soldier distributed such personal ...
Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Thom Jones
Investigation into a solider accused of maltreatment of a prisoner and assault when he struck a detainee during an interrogation at Camp Bucca, Iraq. Soldier was reprimanded, received a reduction in rank, and pay was taken away.
Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault