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 (51)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 201
This is a memo from President Bush to the Vice President and other key administration personnel stating that "none of the provisions of Geneva apply to our conflict with al Qaeda in Afghanistan or elsewhere throughout the world because, among ...
Apr. 06, 2005
Non-legal Memo
George W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld
George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Colin L. Powell, John D. Ashcroft, George J. Tenet
Dec. 26, 2002 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 3929
This letter from Kenneth Roth the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, to President Bush concerns a Washington Post article dated December 26, 2002 alleging of torture of suspected Al-Qaeda detainees held in U.S. custody. Mr. Roth states "if ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Kenneth Roth
George W. Bush | Colin L. Powell | Donald H. Rumsfeld | Condoleeza Rice
George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice
Mar. 03, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3988
DOS Cover Sheet re: Routing and Transmission Report re: Guantanamo Detainees. The recipients are Sec. Def. Rumsfeld, NSA Advisor Rice and Andrew Card.
Dec. 30, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell
Donald H. Rumsfeld | Condoleeza Rice | Andrew Card
June 14, 2004 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 4288
Letter from William F. Schultz, Executive Director, Amnesty International to U.S. President George W. Bush re: Human Rights in Afghanistan.
Dec. 17, 2004
Letter
William F. Schultz
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
Non-US | ACLU-RDI 4316
Letter from Lawyers Against Torture to President George W. Bush re" Lawyer's Statement on Bush Administration's Torture Memos stating that the torture memoranda circumvent long established and universally acknowledged principles of law and common ...
Dec. 17, 2004
Letter
George W. Bush | Richard B. Cheney | Donald H. Rumsfeld | Ashley A. Larsen
George W. Bush, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Richard B. Cheney, John D. Ashcroft
May 14, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 3632
Letter from Amnesty International's Noa Kleinman, expressing concern over the non-disclosure of names/country of origin of thirteen Guantanamo detainees who were transferred for release. The letter urges the disclosure of the information. The ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
George W. Bush, Frank E. Schmelzer
Omar Ahmed Khadr
Isolation
June 17, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 3634
Letters sent from various individuals at Amnesty International to George W. Bush and Colin L. Powell requesting proper treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and in Afghanistan. The main theme of the letters is the US' violation of international ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, Frank E. Schmelzer , Donald H. Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jack Straw, John Winston Howard
Bisher Amin Khalil al Rawi, Jamil El Banna, Moazzam Begg, David Hicks, Feroz Ali Abassi
July 20, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 3635
Letter from a British Citizen denouncing the President's November 13, 2001 Military Order: Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War on Terrorism. The letter also expresses the author's regret that six detainees, ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Colin L. Powell | George W. Bush
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, Frank E. Schmelzer
David Hicks, Moazzam Begg, Feroz Ali Abassi
July 30, 2003 | ACLU-RDI 3636
Letter from a non-government official denouncing the President's November 13, 2001 Military Order: Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War on Terrorism. The letter also expresses the author's concern that six detainees, ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
George W. Bush | Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell, George W. Bush, Frank E. Schmelzer
Feroz Ali Abassi, Moazzam Begg, David Hicks
May 03, 2004 | Non-US | ACLU-RDI 5
Letter regarding abuse of prisoners urging government to take steps in situation. Refers to Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report regarding the inquiry into the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
May 18, 2004
Letter
Kenneth Roth
Condoleeza Rice
Condoleeza Rice, George J. Tenet, Antonio Taguba, William J. Haynes, II