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 (185)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
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
Aug. 23, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 4999

This report discusses an investigation into the alleged abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib Detention Facility. The investigation was ordered initially by LTG Ricardo S. Sanchez, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Seven (CJTF-7). LTG Sanchez ...

Aug. 25, 2004
Oversight Report, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Ricardo Sanchez, George R. Fay, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald J. Ryder, Antonio Taguba, Barbara G. Fast, Walter Wojdakowski, Thomas G. Miller, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Thomas Pappas, Jerry Phillabaum, Ivan L. Frederick, II, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Steven L. Jordan, Carolyn A. Wood, L. Paul Bremer, Colin L. Powell, Robert P. Walters Jr, Marc Warren, Sabrina D. Harman, Romie Leslie Brownlee, Lynndie Rana England, Daniel Kazmier, Franklin D. Raab, Steven Boltz, David M. Price, L. Potter, Dennis E. Stevanus, Aldo Fierro, Varej Filhanessian, George O'Kane, Anthony Cavallaro, David O. Sutton, First Sergeant McBride, Staff Sergeant Hannifan, Staff Sergeant Cole, David W. DiNenna, Sr. , Sergeant Spiker, Darrell Jarred Plude , Joshua R. Claus, Sergeant Presnell, Sergeant Lawson, Michael D. Thompson
Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, Walling, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced grooming, Other
Aug. 11, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 962
Court Martial Records of SPC Megan Ambuhl, who did not participate in abuse of detainees, but pled guilty to Dereliction of Duty for not reporting the activities of MP and MI personnel at Abu Ghraib Prison. She was sentenced to forfeiture of 1/2 ...
Apr. 06, 2005
UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Assault/death, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Hooding/Goggling, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training, Threat, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation
Aug. 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 101
CID Report of investigation regarding alleged assault on detainee. Detainee was captured on July 3, 2004 in Baghdad. He was transported to a detention facility near Al Satar City, on Rashad Base, where he stayed for one night. He was then ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Isolation
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3132
An FBI agent touring Guantanamo witnessed four (4) seperate incidents of detainee abuse, including stess positions, extreme hot/cold rooms, isolation and the use of loud music upon the detainees.
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4886
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI agent states that he ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Stress positions, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4887
These emails are a response to for a request for feedback from FBI agents who have cycled through Guantanamo and witnessed detainee abuse. An agent responded and wrote "I did observe treatment that was not only aggressive, but personally very ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Environmental manipulation
July 28, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 98
CID Report of investigation concerning alleged abuse of detainee during interrogation. Detainee was captured on June 19, 2004 and transported “to what he described as one of the Presidential Palaces.” He was then interrogated. The detainee was ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Physical assault, General, Isolation
July 18, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 659
This is the deposition of Brigadier General Janis L. Karpinski regarding conditions at Abu Ghraib Detention Facility. In her interview, Gen. Karpinski testified that she visited cell blocks 1A and 1B regularly; that Abu Ghraib housed juveniles ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Investigative File, Interview (Transcript), Judicial (Transcript)
Janis Leigh Karpinski, Thomas Pappas, Ricardo Sanchez, Geoffrey D. Miller, Barbara G. Fast, Paul Hill, Kretzer, Walter Wojdakowski, Michael Diamond, David D. McKiernan
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Other
July 15, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4896
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI agent states "In late ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Steven C. McCraw
Physical assault, Use of phobias, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Religious