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 (73)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 04, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5102
CIA copy of an article from the London Independent on Sunday reporting on the death of a son of an Iraqi policeman and the "brutal" treatment of some Iraqi prisoners while in British custody. The article describes physical beatings and violent ...
Mar. 15, 2013
Other
Robert Harkins, William Moore
Baha Mousa, Kifah Taha
EIT, Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Apr. 30, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5104
CIA copy of a New Yorker article tracing the responsibility for American soldiers brutalizing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib.
Mar. 15, 2013
Other
Janis Leigh Karpinski, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba, Ivan L. Frederick, II, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Javal Sean Davis, Megan M. Ambuhl, Sabrina D. Harman, Jeremy C. Sivits, Lynndie Rana England, Joseph M. Darby, Scott Bobeck, Jerry Phillabaum, Donald J. Ryder, Jason Kennel, Thomas Pappas, Steven Jordan, Geoffrey D. Miller, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ricardo Sanchez
EIT, Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
May 11, 2004 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 5105
CIA copy of Washington Post article discussing prisons in Iraq, the CIA's interrogations, and the use of torture and rendition.
Mar. 15, 2013
Other
Alberto R. Gonzales, John McLaughlin, Larry Thompson, George J. Tenet
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al Shibh, Abu Zubaydah, Muhammad Saad Iqbal, Maher Arar
EIT, Sleep deprivation
Sept. 19, 2009 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4994

A Vaughn Declaration from Wendy Hilton, CIA, relating to 171 OLC documents responsive to the ACLU's FOIA requests of October 7, 2003 and May 25, 2004. The government originally withheld 181 OLC documents in full, and Judge Hellerstein upheld ...

Sept. 21, 2009
Judicial (Affidavit/Declaration, Vaughn Declaration/Index)
Wendy M. Hilton
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein
Wendy M. Hilton, Leon E. Panetta, Barack H. Obama, George W. Bush
EIT
Aug. 31, 2009 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4996

A Vaughn Declaration from Wendy Hilton, CIA, relating to documents from the files of the CIA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) responsive to the ACLU's FOIA requests of October 7, 2003 and May 25, 2004. The government originally withheld ...

Aug. 31, 2009
Judicial (Affidavit/Declaration, Vaughn Declaration/Index)
Wendy M. Hilton
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein
Wendy M. Hilton, Leon E. Panetta, Barack H. Obama, George W. Bush
EIT
Aug. 31, 2009 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4997

A Vaughn index describing documents from the files of the CIA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) responsive to the ACLU's FOIA requests of October 7, 2003 and May 25, 2004. The government originally withheld all of the CIA OIG documents in ...

Aug. 31, 2009
Judicial (Vaughn Declaration/Index)
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein
Scott W. Muller, George J. Tenet
Abu Zubaydah
EIT
Jan. 28, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4562
This CIA memo provides guidelines on interrogations of detainees, Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The memo is divided into the following sections: 1) Permissible Interrogation Techniques; 2) Medical and Psychological Personnel; 3) Interrogation ...
Aug. 24, 2009
Non-legal Memo
George Tenet
George J. Tenet
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
Apr. 28, 2003 | CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 4563

A letter from Scott Muller, general counsel of the CIA, to John Yoo, OLC, enclosing a list of legal principles applicable to the CIA's detention and interrogation of detainees, including the use of the "enhanced interrogation ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Letter
Scott W. Muller
John C. Yoo
John C. Yoo, Scott W. Muller
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
June 16, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4564

A list of bullet points discussing legal principles applicable to the CIA's detention and interrogation of detainees, including the use of the "enhanced interrogation techniques."  Many of the principles listed appear in the ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Chart/List, Letter
Patrick Philbin
Patrick Philbin
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
Mar. 02, 2004 | CIA-OGC | ACLU-RDI 4565

A letter from the CIA to OLC requesting that the OLC reaffirm its analyses in several previously issued memos relating to interrogation.  The letter states that "we rely on the applicable law and OLC guidance to assess the lawfulness ...

Aug. 24, 2009
Legal Memo, Letter
Scott W. Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith
Scott W. Muller, Jack L. Goldsmith, John C. Yoo, Alberto R. Gonzales, Jay S. Bybee, John A. Rizzo
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, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other