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 (54)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Nov. 08, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2315
Report on an informal investigation conducted by Brigadier General Richard P. Formica into specific allegations of detainee abuse within CJSOTF-AP [Combined Joint Special Operating Task Force – Arabian Peninsula] and 5th SF [Special Forces] Group ...
June 15, 2006
Oversight Report, Investigative File
Richard P. Formica
Ricardo Sanchez, George R. Fay, Richard P. Formica
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Dec. 29, 2004 | DOA | SOUTHCOM | ACLU-RDI 2324
Memorandum appointing Brigadier General John T. Furlow as the investigating officer for an AR 15-6 investigation into allegations made by the FBI regarding detainee abuse at Guantanamo. Allegations include the use of dogs, impersonation of FBI ...
June 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Bantz J. Craddock
John T. Furlow
Bantz J. Craddock, John T. Furlow
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity
Jan. 10, 2005 | DOA | SOUTHCOM | ACLU-RDI 2345
In a summarized witness statement, the Joint Interrogation Group (JIG) Chief at Guantanamo Bay discusses a variety of incidents of abuse alleged to have taken place under his command. With respect to interrogators' impersonation of FBI agents, he ...
June 15, 2006
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
John T. Furlow
John T. Furlow, Geoffrey D. Miller
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity
July 07, 2004 | DON | ACLU-RDI 5019

This memo by Alberto Mora, General Counsel of the Navy, gives the chronology of his opposition (and the opposition of other members of the Navy) to the harsh interrogation techniques authorized for use at Guantanamo Bay by Secretary of Defense ...

Feb. 27, 2006
Legal Memo
Alberto Mora
Albert T. Church
Alberto Mora, Albert T. Church, Donald H. Rumsfeld, William J. Haynes, II, Mary Walker, Thomas F. Kranz, William R. Molzahn, Charlotte O. Wise, Richard W. Schieke, Michael F. Lohr, Kevin M. Sandkuhler, Peter Murphy, David Brant, Michael Gelles, Steven J. Morello, Thomas W. Taylor, Michael E. Dunlavey , Diane E. Beaver, Gordon R. England, William J. Fallon, Kevin P. Green, Susan M. Livingstone, George W. Bush, Jaymie Durnan, Paul Wolfowitz, Jane Dalton, Daniel Dell'Orto, John C. Yoo, Patrick Leahy, Daniel J. Ramos, James T. Hill, Geoffrey D. Miller
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Sexual
May 03, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 2294

This document is the Court Martial - charge and prosecution package for Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr. of the 372nd Military Police Company. SPC Graner was a key figure in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and this document contains the ...

Feb. 15, 2006
Photograph, UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Charles A. Graner, Jr.
Physical assault, Sexual, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training, Threat, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation
FBI | ACLU-RDI 3528

Memo is an FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) report of DOD interrogation tactics used in Guantanamo. BAU reported witnessing the following techniques being used: duct tape to a detainee's mouth, growling dogs, bright lights, loud music, and ...

Feb. 06, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Stephen R. Wiley
Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
Aug. 31, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 467

An email between members of the Staff Judge Advocate, forwarding a Washington Post article titled "Documents Helped Sow Abuse, Army Report Finds," from August 30, 2004.

Mar. 23, 2005
Email
Ricardo Sanchez, Paul J. Kern, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Alberto Mora, Geoffrey D. Miller, George W. Bush, John P. Abizaid, George R. Fay, Thomas Pappas
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Religious
Apr. 27, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 662
Interviewee tated that he/she never witnessed abuse, but once saw "use of dog but I do not know who used them or for what. The event happened at WOODSIDE." Also stated that "[t]here was another time in November when an MP used loud music which ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas
Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
May 18, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 667
Sworn statement of sergeant at Abu Ghraib including a description of his surprise that "certain approaches" were acceptable. He witnessed a detainee left in cold temperatures without clothes or a blanket and with untreated wounds. The sergeant ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas, Barbara G. Fast, Ricardo Sanchez
Use of water, Other, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming, Other
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 690
Sworn statement of a civilian contractor linguist from the Titan Corp. assigned to Abu Ghraib prison in July 2003. He states that he was one of the first group of linguists/translators to arrive at Abu Ghraib and the training on detainee ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Sexual, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual