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 (101)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 13, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4054
Statement on International Humanitarian Law and Respect for Human Rights by Douglas Davidson. His statement condemns the allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib and states that the allegations will be investigated and that offenders will be punished ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Interview (Statement)
Douglas Davidson
Douglas Davidson, Harry R. Melone, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Geoffrey D. Miller, George W. Bush
Feb. 17, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4030
Email from JoAnn Dolan re: DOD News: Secretary Rumsfeld Remarks to Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. There is an attachment not included.
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
JoAnn J. Dolan
JoAnn J. Dolan, Donald H. Rumsfeld
May 11, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4008
This email is a copy of the press release of the remarks of Sec. Powell and Foreign Minister Fischer concerning Iraq in the context of a new UN resolution that will be required to move forward to returning full sovereignty back to the Iraqis; ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Jonathan B. Schwartz
Ed Cummings | JoAnn J. Dolan | Todd F. Buchwald
Colin L. Powell, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Edward R. Cummings, JoAnn J. Dolan, Todd F. Buchwald, Condoleeza Rice, Antonio Taguba, L. Paul Bremer, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Feb. 04, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3987
Cover sheet, transmittal slips, blank sheet w/ handwriting "To: Don Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, Andy Card, FYI"
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Jonathan B. Schwartz
Todd F. Buchwald | JoAnn J. Dolan
Jonathan B. Schwartz, Todd F. Buchwald, JoAnn J. Dolan, Andrew Card, Condoleeza Rice, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Colin L. Powell
July 22, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3853
Email forward of a paper written on the three War on Terror cases decisions issued by the Supreme Court in 2004. The paper summarizes Rumsfeld v Padilla, Hamdi v Rumsfeld and Rasul, et al v Bush. All three cases were brought by, or on behalf of, ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Katherine M. Gorove
Joshua L. Dorosin | JoAnn J. Dolan | Curtis A. Bradley
Katherine M. Gorove, Joshua L. Dorosin, JoAnn J. Dolan, Curtis A. Bradley, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Janice A. Smith
Jose Padilla, Yaser Esam Hamdi, Shafiq Rasul
July 13, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3851
Email from Robert K. Harris reads: "For your information and possible L/PM and/or L/FO coordination." The original email is a "Press Gaggle" by Scott McClellan, it includes three questions about the International Committee of the Red Cross' ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Robert K. Harris
Ed Cummings | James H. Thessin | Samuel M. Witten | Curtis A. Bradley
Robert K. Harris, Edward R. Cummings, Samuel M. Witten, Curtis A. Bradley, Scott McClellan, James H. Thessin, Francis M. Gaffney, Frank E. Schmelzer , Donald H. Rumsfeld
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
June 23, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3849
Emails discuss the Department of Defenses' recent release of documents, the documents apparently explained the types of interrogation techniques the U.S. employed in Guantanamo. However, the documents are being criticized as insufficient. The ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Ed Cummings
JoAnn J. Dolan | Todd F. Buchwald | Joshua L. Dorosin | Steven A. Solomon | David Kaye
Edward R. Cummings, JoAnn J. Dolan, Todd F. Buchwald, Joshua L. Dorosin, Steven A. Solomon, David A. Kaye, Charles L. Daris, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Ricardo Sanchez
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Nudity
May 13, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3842

Email includes news articles about high level detainees, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah and the "harsh" interrogation methods the CIA employs. The email includes another article, which reports specific accounts of abuse.

Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Jonathan B. Schwartz
Katherine M. Gorove | Michael J. Dennis
George W. Bush, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Katherine M. Gorove, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Frank E. Schmelzer , Michael J. Dennis, Mark P. Lagon, Lorne Craner, Michael G. Kozak, Miriam K. Hughes, Janice A. Smith
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Walid Bin Attash
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming
June 22, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3835
Email discusses and includes a press release of a press briefing with Judge Alberto Gonzales. Judge Gonzales discusses, generally, the war on terror.
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Thomas A. Johnson
Ed Cummings | Christopher N. Camponovo
Thomas A. Johnson, Edward R. Cummings, Christopher N. Camponovo, Alberto R. Gonzales, Russell K. LaMotte, Jacob K. Cogan, Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Janis Chapman-Gates, Susan P. Suh, Richard Grenell , Monica L. Cummings, Eric L. Owens , Daniel Dell'Orto, Keith B. Alexander, George W. Bush, William J. Haynes, II, Jay S. Bybee, John C. Yoo, Scott McClellan, James T. Hill, Mary Walker, Geoffrey D. Miller, John P. Abizaid, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Newt Minow, Lloyd Cutler
Mohammed al Qahtani, Jose Padilla, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
May 26, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3832
Roundtable interview with Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell. On May 26. 2004, Mr. Powell answered a series of questions from journalists regarding allegations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
Dec. 30, 2004
Other
Frank E. Schmelzer , Antonio Taguba, Colin L. Powell, Richard Green Lugar, Tom Lantos, Henry J. Hyde, George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld, John D. Ashcroft