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 (127)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
NSC | ACLU-RDI 6599
This National Security Council memo summarizes the OLC's three May 2005 opinions for the CIA on the legality of its interrogation techniques.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Nudity
| ACLU-RDI 6598
This OLC summary contains advice to the Counsel to President, CIA, and DOD on the use and legality of interrogation techniques in the war against terrorism.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Abu Zubaydah
Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Walling, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias
Sept. 01, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6595
The September 2004 memorandum from Daniel Levin to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General provides an update on the status of interrogation advice. The memo includes previously given and current/pending advice for the CIA and DOD.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
Attorney General
Jay S. Bybee, John A. Rizzo, John McLaughlin, William "Jim" Haynes, Scott W. Muller, Jack L. Goldsmith
Use of water, Waterboarding, Face slap or insult slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Physical assault
July 22, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6592
This July 22, 2004 letter from Daniel Levin to Scott Muller asks Muller to provide a "precise description" of the waterboard interrogation technique, so that the OLC can determine if it is consistent with 18 USC §§ 2340 and 2340A.
Aug. 31, 2016
Letter
Daniel B. Levin
Scott W. Muller
Scott W. Muller, Daniel B. Levin
SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding
OLC | ACLU-RDI 6591
This memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo analyzes whether certain enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the interrogation of high value al Qaeda detainees would violate US law under Article 16. The memorandum concludes ...
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven G. Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
OLC | ACLU-RDI 6590
This memorandum from Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo examines whether certain interrogation techniques can be used in the interrogation of high value al-Qaeda detainees. The memorandum concludes that none of these specific techniques, considered ...
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
Steven Bradbury, John A. Rizzo
Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
Feb. 14, 2008 | ACLU-RDI 6586
This transcript is of a hearing held before the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties to examine the OLC's involvement in the legal review of Administration policies regarding detention and ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Judicial (Transcript)
Jerrold Nadler, Trent Franks, Steven G. Bradbury
SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Threat, Assault/death, Temperature, Environmental manipulation
July 29, 2009 | OPR | ACLU-RDI 6584
This Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) report was written in response to public debate over Jay Bybee's leaked memo titled "Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A", which was replaced soon after by Daniel ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Oversight Report
Jay S. Bybee, John C. Yoo, Daniel B. Levin, Steven G. Bradbury, Patrick Philbin, Alberto R. Gonzales
Abu Zubaydah, Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Gul Rahman
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Mock Burial, Rendition, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Religious, Forced grooming
May 10, 2005 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6582
An OLC memo from Bradbury to Rizzo addressing whether the combined use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (including waterboarding) violates the prohibition on torture. The memo concludes that it would not violate the torture statute if used ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Steve Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo, Steven G. Bradbury, James B. Comey, Jay Bybee, Daniel B. Levin
EIT, SERE, Use of water, Waterboarding, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
Aug. 26, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6580
An OLC memo to the CIA addressing whether the use of four enhanced techniques, "dietary manipulation, nudity, water dousing, and abdominal slaps," in the interrogation of [redacted] would violate the law. The letter concludes that use of the ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
Daniel B. Levin, John A. Rizzo
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Dietary manipulation, Nudity