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 (133)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 19, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2313
Discusses existence of new photos of abuse of detainees. A CD of photographs was provided by CIA to Department of Defense who forwarded it to the Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID). Some of the photographs were the Abu Ghraib ones shown ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Janis Leigh Karpinski
Sexual, General, Sexual, Physical assault, Other Humiliation
June 25, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2204
Email includes notes from a May 7, 2004 Senate Armed Services Committee, which summarizes the incidents which led to the death of Iraqi Major General and detainee Abed Hamed Mowhoush.
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
John McCain, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Richard B. Myers, Romie Leslie Brownlee, Peter Schoomaker, Bradley T. Smith
Abed Hamed Mowhoush
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Other
May 05, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3532
Email between FBI officials discussing alleged DoD abuse. Email refers to Donald Rumsfeld's public statements, where he stated the DoD was against hooding, threats of violence and humiliation. The author follows that: "I know these techniques ...
Feb. 06, 2006
Email
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Thomas J. Harrington, Paul Wolfowitz
May 20, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 1756

This Court Martial record (volume 5 of 8) discusses the court martial proceedings of Staff Sergeant Ivan L. Frederick, II, who was charged for offenses he committed while assigned to the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility on or about November 08, ...

Nov. 30, 2005
UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Ivan L. Frederick, II, Romie Leslie Brownlee, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba, George R. Fay, Megan M. Ambuhl, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Jeremy C. Sivits, Javal Sean Davis, Sabrina D. Harman, Armin J. Cruz, Lynndie Rana England, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, Geoffrey D. Miller, Walter Wojdakowski, Barbara G. Fast, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Steven L. Jordan, Jason L. Jones, Togo D. West, Jr., Richard A. Coleman, J.L. Johnson, J.S. Mobley, Barbara G. Fast, Thomas Pappas
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Threat, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced grooming, Other
Jan. 22, 2004 | NCIS | ACLU-RDI 567
Email exchange regarding the death of a civilian named Naeem Sadun Hattab who was detained in Iraq. Includes e-mail from a person at NCIS listing seven suspects in the death of Mr. Hattab. A reply to that email from OSD refers to a memo for ...
Aug. 22, 2005
Email
Donald H. Rumsfeld
Naeem Sadun Hatab
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4684
This White House memo discusses the treatment of detainees taken in the War on Terror and how they are to be classified and the determination of their legal status.
June 08, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld | John D. Ashcroft | I. Lewis Libby | George Tenet | Condoleeza Rice
George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Colin L. Powell, John D. Ashcroft, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, I. Lewis Libby, George J. Tenet
Nov. 13, 2001 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4703
This State Department Fact Sheet on the President's establishment of Military Commissions lists talking points on addressing issues and questions that might arise. The points highlight the following: i) The Order applies only to non-U.S. ...
June 08, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Nov. 13, 2001 | WH | ACLU-RDI 4704
Presidential Military Order concerning the Detention, Treatment and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War against Terrorism. The Order is the basis for the authority to apprehend, detain and place on trial via Military Commissions persons who ...
June 08, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld
Jan. 15, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 3543
Department of Defense memo rescinding approval of the use of all Category II techniques and one Category III technique during investigations that were previously approved on December 2, 2002. Attaches memo from Jim Haynes, General Counsel of the ...
June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
James T. Hill
Donald H. Rumsfeld, William J. Haynes, II, James T. Hill
Apr. 16, 2003 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 3544

A memo from Secretary Rumsfeld approving a set of interrogation techniques, including some that it admits may be "inconsistent with" provisions of the Geneva Conventions.  The techniques include "Pride and Ego Down," ...

June 01, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld
James T. Hill
Donald H. Rumsfeld, James T. Hill, Richard B. Myers
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation