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 (65)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
July 24, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 978
Following a roadside incident two (2) Iraqi civilians were awaiting soldier's investigation in to the matter, with their hands up and without any weapons. Several of these soldiers [proceeded to] punch, kick, butt stroke, and shout at the ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File, Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General
Oct. 16, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 985
A Staff Sargent near Tikrit, Iraq, on September 11, 2003, shot an Iraqi detainee. The shooting was described as "willfully and unlawful". The detainee was shot in the abdomen with a rifle. The SSGT admitted to the act and pleaded for leniency.
Apr. 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Raymond T. Odierno
Physical assault, General
Sept. 06, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 980

A soldier was found guilty of using excessive force during interrogation by assaulting detainee with a police riot baton on his feet. Punishment included oral admonition and restriction to set locations (dining hall, duty, company area, ...

Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File
Physical assault, General
Sept. 18, 2003 | CID | ACLU-RDI 170
Email with an executive summary of investigation into the death of an Iraqi enemy prisoner of war. Obeed Hethere Radad was confinded in an isolation cell with his hands secured. A guard claimed he thought Radad was trying to escape and shot him ...
Apr. 05, 2005
Investigative File (CID), Email
Obeed Hethere Radad
Physical assault
Sept. 22, 2003 | CID | ACLU-RDI 171
Email with an executive summary of CID investigation into a Lieutenant Colonel's admission of issuing a death threat and firing his pistol next to the head of a detainee (an uncooperative Iraqi police officer suspected of being part of a plot to ...
Apr. 05, 2005
Investigative File (CID), Email
Bruce E. Davis
Physical assault, Threat, Assault/death
Aug. 23, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 497
Investigation into three (3) instances of abuse: one in which a looter were stripped of his clothing and released from custody; another where an Iraqi was accidently shot; and a third in which a detainee was repeatedly hit in the head with a ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement), UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Physical assault, General, Nudity
Sept. 22, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 498
Investigation into the abuse (hitting and kicking) of several detainees. The detainees were captured for supposedly threatening soldiers with weapons and making false passports. Includes sworn statements of soldiers and detainees.
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File
Face slap or insult slap, General, Physical assault
Aug. 16, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 499
Investigation into commands by officers to beat detainees. Sworn statements by soldiers and officers claim that such orders would have been made in jest, though some soldiers admit to having taken the orders seriously. Report does not make any ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File
Physical assault, General
Nov. 10, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 500
Investigation into abuse during prisoner transfer. Finds that one handcuffed and blindfolded detainee was either allowed to fall or pushed from the transport vehicle, resulting in injury as he landed on his side on the ground; that two detainees ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File
General, Other, Physical assault
Sept. 19, 2003 | CID | ACLU-RDI 12
CID Investigation in to allegations that a Non-Commissioned Officer and soldier from 19th Quartermaster( QM) Company, 240th QM Battalion, pushed an Iraqi civilian into the back of their truck, to an isolated area, robbed him of his watch and ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Jacqueline J. Scott, Thom Jones, Nelson van Eck
Physical assault, General