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
May 30, 2005 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4551

An OLC memo addressing whether certain enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA are consistent with the United States's obligations under Article 16 of the United Nations Convention Agsinst Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or ...

Apr. 16, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
John A. Rizzo
John A. Rizzo, Steven G. Bradbury, Daniel B. Levin, Jack L. Goldsmith, Jay S. Bybee, George J. Tenet, William J. Haynes, II
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Riduan "Hambali" Isamuddin, Majid Khan, Mohd Farik Bin Amin, Jose Padilla
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, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Nudity
June 18, 2008 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4507
Heavily redacted memo from DCI to Nat'l Sec. Advisor (4pgs) and memo from GC to DCI (1pg) with routers. Refers to DOJ's 2002 authorization for the CIA to employ certain techniques on certain high-value detainees (HVDs), and mentions waterboarding.
May 27, 2008
Non-legal Memo
George Tenet
George J. Tenet
Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
CIA | ACLU-RDI 4520
A heavily redacted memorandum from the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence to the Deputy Director for Operations, the DCI Counterterrorist Center, and Senior Deputy General Counsel re the Interrogation of Abu Zabaydah.
May 27, 2008
Non-legal Memo
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Waterboarding, Use of water
Aug. 12, 2002 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 4524

A heavily redacted cable from the field to CIA headquarters relating to the status of Abu Zubaydah.  The unredated portions refer to the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah.

May 27, 2008
Non-legal Memo, Cable
Abu Zubaydah
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
May 07, 2004 | CIA-OIG | ACLU-RDI 4525

A heavily redacted version of a report authored by the CIA's Office of the Inspector General.  The report was later released in less-redacted form.  It discusses the CIA's use of the "enhanced interrogation techniques," ...

May 27, 2008
Oversight Report
John L. Helgerson
John C. Yoo, George J. Tenet, George W. Bush, John L. Helgerson, John A. Rizzo, John McLaughlin
Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
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
May 13, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3843

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
JoAnn J. Dolan
Ted A. Borek | Michael J. Dennis | Jonathan B. Schwartz | Katherine M. Gorove
Frank E. Schmelzer , JoAnn J. Dolan, Ted A. Borek, Jonathan B. Schwartz, Katherine M. Gorove, Monica J. Tillery, Michael J. Dennis, Mark P. Lagon, Lorne Craner, Michael G. Kozak, Janice A. Smith, Miriam K. Hughes
Abu Zubaydah, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash
CIA | ACLU-RDI 4505

Almost entirely redacted document entitled "Proposal for an enhanced interrogation strategy in the War on Terrorism." [OIG Vaughn # Other-51]

Aug. 14, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Abu Zubaydah
Feb. 25, 2009 | DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 6171
The document includes notes from interviews conducted with FBI personnel [Redacted], regarding his knowledge of Department of Defense interrogation techniques used on Detainee #63 at Guantanamo Bay as well as the FBI's involvement.
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
John Ashcroft, Robert S. Mueller, David E. Nahmias
Mohammed al Qahtani, Abu Zubaydah
Feb. 24, 2009 | DOJ-OIG | ACLU-RDI 6149
The document includes notes from interviews conducted with FBI personnel David Nahmias, regarding his knowledge about legal issues raised about the interrogation techniques employed in a redacted detainee's interrogation at Guantanamo Bay. The ...
Interview (Summaries/Notes)
David E. Nahmias, Robert S. Mueller, Alice Fisher, Michael Chertoff, Christopher A. Wray, Larry Thompson, John Ashcroft, David Ayres, Patrick Philbin, Whit Cobb, Condoleeza Rice, Andrew Arena, Pasquale D'Amuro, John S. Pistole
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah