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.
Investigation into incident where a soldier of the 239th MP Company sprayed a detainee with a water hose. If found guilty, soldier would be punished at the least with a reduction to the grade of E-3, and seven days restriction. The circumstances ...
Detainee states he was detained by Northern Alliance forces and housed in a Kandahar, Afghanistan "jail". During his detention he observed the Northern Alliance guards randomly would beat some of the other the detainees with sticks, chains and in ...
The Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) interviewed two detainees at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to learn of camp conditions. The interview was conducted by the FBI and other agencies. One detainee explained that since being detained at ...
Detainee interviewed at Camp Delta states that he is dissatisfied with the treatment the detainees are receiving by U.S. military personnel that are assigned to Camp Delta. He states and others have been 'beaten, spit upon and treated worse than ...
State Department cable announcing the release of four (4) detainees from Guantanamo to their home governments. The cable also states that the U.S. is willing to release detainees to home countries that are willing to treat the former detainees ...
FBI Summary Notes indicate that the detainees are upset with the way they are treated by the guards. They are upset because they are being held as prisoners without being charged with a crime and that they should be charged or released; The ...
Email with an update that four detainees will be released from Guantanamo. The email states "At long last, some excellent news. In the very near future, four (4) Detainees, three (3) Afghans and one (1) Tajik will be sent home. Please keep this ...
FBI Summary Notes indicate that the detainees are upset with the way they are treated by the guards. They are upset because they are being held as prisoners without being charged with a crime and that they should be charged or released; The ...
Email from JoAnn Dolan to Brian Leventhal concerning a CBS Evening News segment that highlighted the release of a 90 year-old Afghani man being released from detention at Guantanamo. The report stated that the man was mistakenly pick up during a ...
Email from Gilda M. Brancato to Ed Cummings forwarding Reuters artcile re: French detainees at Guantanamo complaining of psychological torture. No comments on email.
DOD PowerPoint presentation on Guantanamo's states that the facility is a "Long-term holding facility for detention of enemy combatants" and gives a brief descriptions of detainees and the initiatives being undertaken at the camp to ensure the ...
DOS interagency delivery checklist for the appropriate handling and delivery of attached documents re: Summary of Conclusions for Deputies Committee Meeting on Detainees 10/16/02
State Department cable re: Principals Committee Meeting on Detainees on: 10/18/2002 at: 14:00. Remarks: Please prepare a briefing memo with annotated agenda and checklist for Principals Committee Meeting on Detainees, Friday, October 19, ...
State Department cable draft response to questions submitted by an attorney for a detainee held at Guantanamo. This cable contains talking points to address the status of these citizens being held at Guantanamo. The cable goes on to state; 1) The ...
Detainee stated that he has been in prison for nine (9) months and no one can prove he committed any crime. He also claimed he was mistreated by U.S. Army Military Police soldiers during a recent cell block search. Interview was then ended.
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes) Other
Medical report on a 16 year-old Iraqi male detainee from Abu Ghraib prison shot in the left hip and and arm with associated injuries. The medical records do not state how the detainee received his injuries and does not give any personal ...
Detainee gave expansive interview on the conditions at Camp Delta; his views on different Al Queda leaders and US/Mid-East relations. He had no specific complaints about his conditions. When asked what he liked about America, he provided ...
This is an email from an FBI agent on a tour of duty at Guantanamo Bay. The email describes the release/repatriation announcement of four (4) Guantanamo detainees. After the announcement the author of the emails reported "unrest" and a ...
This email from an FBI agent on a tour of duty at Guantanamo Bay discusses announcement from the Pentagon that four (4) detainees were being repatriated to their respected countries (three Afghans and one Tajik). Memo states that upon news, ...
State Department cable re: formal request for access to the Guantanamo detainees of a certain nationality (not disclosed). The cable states: "In a 10/20 meeting at the MFA, DCM informed MFA Americas Desk Director of [U.S. government's] to ...
Detainee states that he has no condition complaints or accusations of abuse, but that he does not trust the American Government because they betrayed the trust earlier. He also states that he distrusts the Americans because officials from his ...
The embassy of an unknown country sent a note seeking information about a national who is being detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo. The DOS note written in response to their note states that the DOS is not in a position to respond to inquiries of ...
State Department cable concerning a filing in French court by families of two French nationals, seeking declaration of POW status for detainees. The French government argued against the family's actions. The cable indicates that the French judge ...
Detainee began the interview by saying he was under stress because he had not heard from his family and did not know how they were doing. He went on to confirm the details of how and where he was capti\ured in Afghanistan. Detainee denied any ...
United Nations Special Rapporteur report on allegations of potential detainee abuse at Kandahar, Afghanistan. This is an annex of a report which purports to describe how suspected Taliban detainees were bound and hooded while in U.S. custody in ...
DOS interagency delivery checklist for the appropriate handling and delivery of attached documents re: Summary of conclusions for Deputies Committee meeting on detainees - 10/16
DOS Office of the Legal Advisor interagency delivery checklist for the appropriate handling and delivery of attached documents re: Summary of Conclusions for Deputies Committee Meeting on Detainees 10/16/02
Email from JoAnn Dolan to Geeta Pasi forwarding an email with attachment from Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Miller on a detainee transfer/release document Ms. Dolan is seeking Ms. Pasi's approval for. Attachment not included.
A Detainee requested to be interviewed because he stated he was "Very Stressed" and he was being tormented by another detainee. He gave an expansive interview detailing that several of his fellow detainee had openly expressed a desire to harm the ...
Email sender is an FBI official in Guantanamo. He notes that Pentagon was scheduled to repatriate four (4) detainees, three (3), (Afghans) and one (1) (Tajik) to their home countries in late October [2002], and that the same plane will return ...
DOS interagency delivery checklist for the appropriate handling and delivery of attached documents re: Summary of Conclusions for Deputies Committee Meeting on Detainees 10/18/02
State Department cable concerning the 2002 International Bar association meeting where the topic of discussion "range from International terrorism, Intellectual property, human rights and civil liberties". It is also mentioned that South African ...