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 (47)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 11, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 845
Interviewee arrived to AG in late November 2003 as a member of the Tiger Team and then as an analyst. Interviewee noted the use of sandbags over detainee heads. Interviewee mentioned dogs were walked down the hallway, but did not go into ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Use of water, Other, Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
Jan. 20, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 852
Interviewee was assigned to the Internal Reaction Force. Interviewee recalled an incident where a MI person yelled profanity at a detainee and punched the detainee in the back of the head with a closed fist, causing the detainee to fall forward. ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript, Questionnaire)
Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
Jan. 20, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 853
[Document is unreadable in parts]. Interviewee was a member of the Internal Reaction Force. Interviewee stated that he/she observed a captain beating a detainee during the weapon search. Stated "[o]ne soldier was standing next to the ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
June 06, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 879
Interviewee was assigned to AG from late May 2003 to early November 2003 as a Military Police Guard for the 72nd MP Company. Interviewee recalled an incident when another officer called him over to look at a naked detainee for the purpose of ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
June 05, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 906
Interviewee (title and length of assignment unknown). Interviewee recalled witnessing two incidents. In the first incident, the detainee was being interrogated, and at one point [redacted] told the detainee to roll down his jumpsuit and ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas
Physical assault, General, Threat, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation
July 01, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 13

On 1/18/04, a detainee gave a statement about abuse he had suffered at Abu Ghraib and also stated that he had witnessed a translator forcibly sodomizing a male juvenile detainee while a female U.S. soldier observed and took pictures. (This ...

Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Charles A. Graner, Jr., Ivan L. Frederick, II, Megan M. Ambuhl, Javal Sean Davis, Sabrina D. Harman
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Stress positions, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
July 28, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 28

An investigation into a detainee's allegation that he was "tortured" at a U.S. facility in Mosul in March 2004. Detainee indicated that after being arrested but before arriving at the facility, his captors -- American men in civilian ...

Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
July 05, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 91
Investigation prompted by NYT article containing victim's allegations of torture and abuse during detention in Abu Ghraib from November 29 through December 31, 2003. Investigation concludes there is not “sufficient evidence to prove or disprove ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Bisher Amin Khalil al Rawi
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation
July 17, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 97
CID Report of investigation regarding alleged abuse of detainee at unknown detention facility in Tikrit, Iraq. Detainee picked up by Iraqi Police on or about April 15, 2004. He was interviewed with the assistance of an interpreter on May 5, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
Aug. 05, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 99
CID Report of investigation into alleged abuse and sodomy of detainee. Victim was captured on May 4, 2004 “by two males wearing green t-shirts, cargo pants and tan vests, who stated they worked for the Criminal Investigations."He was handcuffed, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson, Jacqueline J. Scott, Nelson van Eck
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual