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 (87)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Feb. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4230
State Department cable concerning the Canadian Prime Minister statement on the U.S. agreement to treat detainees in accordance with Geneva conventions. The cable is heavily redacted.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Feb. 08, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4231
State Department cable re: Applying the Geneva Conventions to the Taliban detainees, but not granting Taliban POW status. Because Afghanistan is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the Geneva Conventions apply, but because the fighters are not ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Feb. 07, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4232
DOS Cable re: President Bush Making a Decision on the Legal Status of the Guantanamo Detainees. The cable also mentions Sec. of Def. meeting with UK Def. minister Hoon, and a British TV show called "The American Embassy".
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Feb. 11, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4233
State Department cable concerning the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the Guantanamo detainees. The cable states that a determination on the legal status of the Guantanamo detainees and the applicability of the Geneva conventions to ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell
Feb. 13, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4234
DOS Cable states that the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) moved towards but ultimately moderated its position on the U.S. position on applying the Geneva Conventions to the Guantanamo detainees. The ICRC statement stated that ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Feb. 20, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4235
State Department Cable concerning Secretary of State Powell meeting with Minister of Canadian Foreign Affairs William Graham to discuss trade issues and the treatment of Al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held in detention at Guantanamo. The meeting ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Feb. 22, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4236
State Department cable concerning the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) diplomatic assistant, Beatrice Megevand-Roggo's request for access to the detainees being held in U.S. custody at Guantanamo. The cable is otherwise heavily ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4237
State Department cable describing how Former Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral gave a speech bashing the U.S. Government for/on the war on terror and counter-terror policies. The main criticism is that the U.S. is not listening ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell
June 19, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4238
State Department cable concerning a meeting with the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) regarding the global war on terror, status of detainees and military commission.
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Edward R. Cummings, David A. Kaye, David W. Bowker, James Burger , Steven A. Solomon
May 21, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4239
State Department cable concerning a meeting with the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) regarding the Global War on Terror. The cable states there was an informal meeting with ICRC officials to discuss military commissions and the ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, Edward R. Cummings, Steven A. Solomon, David W. Bowker, James Burger , Waldo W. Brooks , William Lietzau