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 (58)

This CIA cable outlines the recommended interrogation plan for Gul Rahman and states that it should include "environmental deprivation" and "concentrated interrogation exposure." Specifically, sleep loss and fatigue are suggested as most ...
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation
This document contains interview notes of a redacted official discussing their knowledge of the events surrounding Gul Rahman's death. The interview discusses different detention conditions at the COBALT site and the kinds of conditions Gul ...
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity
This 2002 chronology of events details Gul Rahman's time at COBALT including the assessments and interviews conducted of him and the interrogation techniques he was subjected to, according to cable reports and visits. It also lists the dates ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Chart/List
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity, Other
This document is a memorandum from the chief of the Counterintelligence Evaluation Branch of the Counterespionage Group in the Counterintelligence Center about an interview conducted with John B. Jessen regarding the death of Gul Rahman.
This memo sets forth the reasons why the CIA granted Mitchell, Jessen, and Associates (MJA) a "sole source contract" to support the Counterterrorism Center's rendition, detention, and interrogation program, and describes the type of support that ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo
Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell
This paper written by James Mitchell and John Jessen discusses interrogation resistance techniques described in Al Qaeda training documents, how to recognize when these techniques are being employed, and strategies for developing countermeasures.
Sept. 26, 2016
Non-legal Memo
James Mitchell and John Jessen
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
This is an undated note from Jim Mitchell in which he proposes his ideas for "the broad features of the training program" and offers his and Bruce Jessen's help putting the training together and delivering it or helping to "craft the product". ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo, Letter
James Mitchell
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
This CIA cable states that a meeting took place with Abu Zubaydah interrogation team members, including psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, to discuss specific interrogation techniques, legal guidance, and plans for the post-isolation ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Isolation
This Statement of Need requests that the CIA's Counterterrorism Center (CTC) renew James Mitchell, Bruce Jessen and two additional SERE psychologists' Independent Contractor contracts so that they can continue to support the CTC's interrogation ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Other
Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell
This email chain discusses the use, purpose, and constraints of psychological support in interrogations and includes feedback from Jim Mitchell.
Dec. 20, 2016
Email
Bruce Jessen, James Mitchell
SERE