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 (124)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 10, 2005 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4986

An OLC memo addressing whether the combined use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (including waterboarding) violates the prohibition on torture.  The memo concludes that it would not.

Apr. 16, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo, James B. Comey, Jay S. Bybee, Daniel B. Levin
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
Mar. 12, 2001 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 5969
This summary of an interview completed by the U.S. Naval Criminal investigative Service with Guantanamo Bay detainee, Moazaam Begg, was released by the Department of Defense Office of the General Counsel; the DOD's release letter to the ACLU is ...
Apr. 08, 2009
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Moazzam Begg
Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual, Threat, Rendition, Use of electricity
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5968
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Physical assault, Sexual, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Other
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5967
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Physical assault, Sexual, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Forced grooming
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5966
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5965
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Other
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5963
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, General, Threat, Rendition, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Forced physical training, Other
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5961
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Physical assault, General, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other
DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 5960
A DOJ-OIG questionnaire for FBI personnel who were involved in detainee interview or interrogations at assigned locations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Iraq; Afghanistan; or in other areas controlled by the U.S. Military. Questionnaire primarily ...
Apr. 03, 2009
Interview (Questionnaire)
Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Rendition, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
Mar. 29, 2005 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4795
Interview of FBI Official-member of the Behavioral Science Division, interviewee was stationed at Guantanamo, Bay from mid-September 2002 until the end of October 2002. The agent stated that he witnessed at least three incidents of abuse, ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
John T. Furlow
Physical assault, General, Threat, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Religious, Forced grooming, Other