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 (420)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Sept. 07, 2004 | DIA | ACLU-RDI 183
This cable describes the efforts by Jordanian and Iraqi intelligence to find five (5) terrorists who were involved in the killing of a US Diplomat in Amman Jordan and the attempted assassination of a GID Colonel. This cable focuses on the ...
Nov. 08, 2004
Cable
Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Physical assault
Aug. 27, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 2411
DOS cable to US Embassy and Consular posts concerning how to address allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. The cable instructs the embassy and consular officials to understand the different allegations of abuse and how to address questions ...
June 15, 2006
Cable
James R. Schlesinger, Harold Brown, Tillie Kidd Fowler, Charles Albert Horner, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, George R. Fay, Antonio Taguba
Aug. 25, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3728
This State Department cable states that a letter was received from Stephen Toope, Chairman of the United Nations' Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. The letter concerns a report by the Working Group Enforced or Involuntary ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Cable
Kevin Edward Moley
Aug. 11, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6533
This memorandum is a heavily redacted message to Acting Assistant Attorney General Dan Levin, stating that the CIA is preparing preliminary biographies "in preparation for a future request for a legal opinion" on interrogations in CIA control.
June 10, 2016
Cable, Letter
Dan Levin
Daniel B. Levin
Aug. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4646
This State Department document is a point-by-point response to an opinion (not enclosed) by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the United Nations former Commission on Human Rights, to the U.S. detention of Al Qaeda operatives and others ...
Aug. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 5910
This Cable from DOS Washington to the US Mission in Geneva, Switzerland contains a letter from US Sec. of State Colin Powell to the human rights group Amnesty International regarding detainees held by the US government at Guantanamo Bay Detention ...
Oct. 28, 2011
Cable, Letter
Colin L. Powell
Aug. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 5892
This DOS Cable is to the US Mission in Geneva Switzerland to respond to the human rights organization Amnesty International with a letter describing the US position concerning the detention & treatment of detainees in the War on Terror.
July 17, 2004 | DIA | ACLU-RDI 182
A detainee who was released from custody, Maleem Fidel Mohammad, made public statements concerning being sexually abused with the use of dogs while in Coalition custody. Mr. Mohammad reportedly was hoping that his statements would turn local ...
July 15, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3600
DOS Cable discusses the transfer for release of detainees at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). It states that the detainee's host governments are willing to accept the nationals. The names and countries of the detainees are listed, but redacted.
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Stephanie T. Williams, James A. McAtamney, Elizabeth H. Richard, Ronald W. Miller, Frank E. Schmelzer , Karen L. Hecker, Carol T. Santos, JoAnn J. Dolan
July 07, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3721
This is a cable to the U.S. Mission in Geneva, forwarding letters received by U.N. Representatives Theo van Boven, Leandro Despouy and Paul Hunt. The letters from Messrs.’ Boven, Despouy and Hunt focus on the treatment of detainees and the ...