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 (126)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Sept. 15, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 4536

An investigation into alleged aggravated assault, cruelty, and maltreatment of an Iraqi prisoner by U.S. forces.  The detainee stated that he was held at the "Disco" (a detention facility in Mosul, Iraq) for approximately one ...

Nov. 05, 2008
Investigative File (CID)
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Forced physical training
Apr. 06, 2006 | CID | ACLU-RDI 4530
This CID investigation concerns an allegation of a assault upon a detainee while at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). Detainee alleged that he was assaulted by a black man dressed in an army uniform and was "slapped around" for ten (10) days ...
Oct. 01, 2008
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Aug. 26, 2006 | CID | ACLU-RDI 4528
On 24 Dec 2003 American forces raided a house in the Slaikh Alrabee neighborhood of Baghdad. The men inside were taken in to custody with blindfolds and cuffed behind their backs. The men allege that during their arrest they were abused by being ...
Sept. 24, 2008
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming
May 13, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3842

Email includes news articles about high level detainees, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah and the "harsh" interrogation methods the CIA employs. The email includes another article, which reports specific accounts of abuse.

Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Jonathan B. Schwartz
Katherine M. Gorove | Michael J. Dennis
George W. Bush, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Katherine M. Gorove, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Frank E. Schmelzer , Michael J. Dennis, Mark P. Lagon, Lorne Craner, Michael G. Kozak, Miriam K. Hughes, Janice A. Smith
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Walid Bin Attash
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming
Mar. 06, 2003 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3431
Interview of detainee at Guantanamo. Detainee was shown a photo book wherein he identified Usama bin Laden, but says he never met him. Then he claimed that on a previous occasion two femal interviewers hooded him and had him beaten under questioning.
May 18, 2005
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Aug. 23, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3393
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee stated he was beaten by U.S. forces at an unknown location in Afghanistan. In one instance, he was taken via helicopter to a location where he was kicked in the stomach by ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling
July 27, 2002 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3389
Interview of a detainee at Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay. The detainee stated he was at the Kandahar airport for 2-3 months before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay. Stated he was treated harshly by the U.S. in Peshawar and Kandahar. Said he was ...
May 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
FBI | ACLU-RDI 3024
FBI Memo concerning FBI personal's knowledge and documentation of detainee and prisoner abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Antonio Taguba
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
May 25, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2983
This FBI memo concerns the activities of FBI personnel at Abu Ghraib prison from October 2003 to December 2003. The FBI conducted 15 interviews of military personnel, each being present at Abu Ghraib prison at some point during October 2003 & ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Other
May 19, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2829

Cable summarizes the results of 14 interviews of FBI personnel who participated in detainee interviews at Abu Ghraib between October and December 2003. Attached to the cable is a classified chart of FBI personnel who conducted interviews at ...

Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Thomas J. Harrington | Valerie E. Caproni
Thomas J. Harrington, Valerie E. Caproni, Chris Swecker, J. Stephen Tidwell, Janice K. Fedarcyk, Brenton L. Mosher, Warren T. Bamford, Edward J. Barrett
Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity