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 (174)

Detainee alleged that he was abused while in custody of U.S. forces. The detainee claims he was beaten, sexually assaulted and had his property stolen. Once released, detainee filed a complaint and told his story on Hardball with Chris Matthews. ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Nudity, Sexual, Other Humiliation

Female detainee alleged she was abused while in US custody. The investigation stated that there was insufficient evidence to prove the offenses of aggravated assault and cruelty and maltreatment. Detainee alleges she was forced to stand ...

Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Walling, General, Sleep deprivation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual

This document is the Court Martial - charge and prosecution package for Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr. of the 372nd Military Police Company. SPC Graner was a key figure in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and this document contains the ...

Detainee alleged that while at Abu Ghraib prison several soldiers slapped; punched; choked; struck his head, shoulders, and arms with a retractable metal baton; jumped on him; forced him to lean against a wall in a seated position; forced him to ...
Detainee reported that he was arrested after US forces after a raid on his home. He states that while in detention at the Baghdad International Airport he was interrogated and claims to have been spat upon and knocked to the ground. He alleges ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Other Humiliation
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
Informal investigation into the shooting death of Iraqi national detainee, Obeed Hethere Radad. The shooting officer, a Specialist (SPC), stated that he shot Radad because he was under the belief that a handcuffed Radad was trying to escape. ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Raymond T. Odierno
Obeed Hethere Radad
Physical assault, General, Isolation, Other Humiliation, Other
Memo describes the observations of a FBI agent, who observed the improper handling of a detainee in an interrogation room at Camp Delta. The agent was in a video observation room and saw a detainee on his knees rubbing a cramp out of his leg ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Stress positions, Other Humiliation
The Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) interviewed two detainees at Camp Delta to learn of camp conditions. One detainee informed the interviewers that in response to the "mistreatment and injustice that he and his Muslim brothers have ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Other Humiliation, Religious
Memo summarizes an interview of a Camp Delta detainee. Present during the interview, which was conducted in Dari, was a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and a DOD language specialist. The detainee stated that ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Sleep deprivation, Other Humiliation, Religious