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 (227)

This CIA memo discusses the timeline for the use of enhanced interrogation techniques post 9/11 on high value detainees at black sites.
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo
George J. Tenet, George Bush
EIT, SERE
This CIA cable describes Abu Zubaydah's condition in detention as of July 19, 2002. The cable states that the next stage of Zubaydah's detention will include confinement, dressing changes, walling and a head immobilizer, as requested by IC SERE ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Walling, Cramped confinement, Isolation, Other, Physical assault
Bruce Jessen's Resume.
Dec. 20, 2016
Other
Bruce Jessen
EIT, SERE
This memo describes the "key" role that contract interrogators/debriefers play in the CIA's Rendition and Detention Program. The memo states that before September 11, 2001 the CIA had no resident expertise in interrogation, and so they sought ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo
EIT, SERE
This September 2002 email chain discusses medical coverage and setting up for interrogations, which includes having James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen ready to do an initial psycholohical assessment so that they can get waterboard approval and ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Email
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
This July 2002 cable is a request for guidance from headquarters on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. The cable expresses hesitation about using these techniques on subjects being held in solitary confinement without legal ...
This cable includes the bios of the detainees and lists the EITs they were subjected to while they were in CIA custody. It is redacted almost in full with the exception of information on the following three detainees: Suleiman Abdullah, Gul ...
This is a redacted memo which discusses the interrogations Mitchell and Jessen are involved with and where they are needed. Mitchell is associated with the interrogation of several different detainees, all redacted except for Gul Rahman.
Dec. 20, 2016
Non-legal Memo, Cable
James Mitchell , Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT
This cable describes a redacted detainee's behavior in the fourth day of a three week isolation phase.
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
EIT, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
This heavily redacted cable states requests to employ "additional interrogation tactics" to move Abu Zubaydah into "forthcoming posture" regarding future terrorist attacks. The cable says to refer to the redacted text below for the particulars ...
Dec. 20, 2016
Cable
Abu Zubaydah
EIT