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 (192)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
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 08, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 92
CID Report of investigation into detainee's allegations of abuse while in U.S. custody at Mosul Airport, Iraq, over three day period. The detainee claimed to have sustained a bruise to his left shoulder and scratched during his capture. Once in ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Walling, General, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling
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
July 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 105
Investigations into numerous alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison and Al-Ademeya Palace based on reports from CACI and Titan translation employees. Alleged abuses include the physical beatings and humiliation of various detainees, forced exercise ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training
May 13, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3842

Email includes news articles about high level detainees, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah and the "harsh" interrogation methods the CIA employs. The email includes another article, which reports specific accounts of abuse.

Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Jonathan B. Schwartz
Katherine M. Gorove | Michael J. Dennis
George W. Bush, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Katherine M. Gorove, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Frank E. Schmelzer , Michael J. Dennis, Mark P. Lagon, Lorne Craner, Michael G. Kozak, Miriam K. Hughes, Janice A. Smith
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Walid Bin Attash
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming
Oct. 20, 2003 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 3974
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights litigation requesting that the Commission take measures to have the legal status of detainees held at Guantanamo be determined by a competent court, and to protect against the torture of detainees.
Dec. 30, 2004
Judicial (Pleading)
Physical assault, Assault/death, Stress positions, Isolation, Temperature, Threat, Environmental manipulation
Nov. 17, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 116

An investigation into allegations by an Iraqi detinee that interrogators hand- and leg-cuffed him to the floor and pushed him over while blindfolded, causing severe pain and nerve bruising in his wrist. the investigation concluded that there ...

Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Nov. 03, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 117

An investigation into allegations that U.S. forces had kicked a detainee in the legs and back while he was blindfolded and handcuffed so tightly that he received permanent nerve damage in his wrist. Investigation concluded that the allegations ...

Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott
Physical assault, General, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Aug. 25, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 118
Investigation initiated following discovery of a CD during an office clean-up in Afghanistan, containing numerous pictures of American soldiers posing with pistols and M-4 rifles pointed at the heads and backs of hooded and bound detainees and ...
Jan. 31, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Threat, Assault/death, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling