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 (129)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
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
June 01, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 3546
This documenis an academic paper presented by Philip B. Heyman of Harvard University.
June 01, 2005
Other
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Sexual
July 31, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3534
Email updates recipient of the current environment in Guantanamo, during the author's assignment there, he/she has observed approximately twelve interrogations. He/she observed or learned of the following techniques being used by the Department ...
Feb. 06, 2006
Email
Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
July 31, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3529
Email updates recipient of the current environment in Guantanamo, during the author's assignment there, he/she has observed approximately twelve interrogations. He/she observed or learned of the following techniques being used by the Defense ...
Feb. 06, 2006
Email
Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3281
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI official observed a ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni, Steven C. McCraw
Physical assault, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3132
An FBI agent touring Guantanamo witnessed four (4) seperate incidents of detainee abuse, including stess positions, extreme hot/cold rooms, isolation and the use of loud music upon the detainees.
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature
May 07, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3121
Emails between Valerie E. Caproni, John F. Curran, T.J. Harrington, and Others re: Reported incidents of possible detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay. An NAE official reports three incidents he/she witnessed while in Guantanamo Bay on or around ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Thomas J. Harrington
John F. Curran | Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni, Jay W. Hood, Thomas J. Harrington, John F. Curran
Threat, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
May 22, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3106
These emails are to clarify an Electronic Communication (EC) sent by the FBI's Office of the General Counsel to field agents informing them that they must report incidents of abuse that they know of or become aware of. The initial email requests ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Gary M. Bald | M. Chris Briese | Valerie E. Caproni | Thomas J. Harrington | Frankie Battle | Arthur M. Cummings, II
Gary M. Bald, Valerie E. Caproni, Arthur M. Cummings, II, Frankie Battle, Thomas J. Harrington, M. Chris Briese, George W. Bush
Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
Nov. 04, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3094
FBI Letter from T. J. Harrington to the Dept. of Defense concerning suspected mistreatment of detainees. The letter notifies DOD of three separate incidents of "highly aggressive interrogation techniques being used against detainees in ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Letter
Thomas J. Harrington
William J. Haynes, II, Marion E. Bowman, Thomas J. Harrington
Physical assault, Sexual, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious
June 29, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 3080
Email to M. Chris Briese concerning a statement of an Iraqi civilian detained by the 2/501st Military Police (MP) Unit at Abu Ghraib Prison, Baghdad, Iraq. The detainee states he was turtored "from morning until the morning of the next day"; ...
Dec. 15, 2004
Email
Gary M. Bald
M. Chris Briese | Valerie E. Caproni
Gary M. Bald, Valerie E. Caproni, M. Chris Briese, Thomas J. Harrington, Edward H. Lueckenhoff
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, General, Stomach/abdominal slap, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Other