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 (69)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Detainee alleged he was detained with a bag over his head for 14 days, was beat in the stomach and kidney, hit on the lips, thrown into concertina wire. He states that all his statements were made under torture. When the detainee was initially ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Threat, Assault/death
Detainee alleged abuse.
CID report of investigation into allegations made by a detainee that, after his first arrested on April 25, 2004 he was punched, kicked and slapped at then transported to a facility at Mosul Airfield known as the “Disco”. He stated that during ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Nudity
Detainee alleges that after being taken in to custody on June 21, 2004 he was placed in a small cell beaten by soldiers while his hands were, handcuffed behind his back, not glowed to use the restroom, forced to urinate and forced to defecate on ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, General, Cramped confinement, Dietary manipulation, Other Humiliation
A Time magazine article claimed that an Iraqi national taken in to custody along with other family members was the subject of cruel and humiliating treatment at the hands of US forces. The charges include physical and sexual abuse. However, the ...
CID investigation of the death of a detainee in custody at Camp Cropper. On January 31, 2004 a detainee at Camp Cropper died of a brain hemorrhage from an unknown origin. The death was not considered homicide.
Investigation into death of detainee. Established probable cause to believe that several soldiers committed offense of assault against detainee, negligent homicide, cruelty and maltreatment, conspiracy and false statement. Detainee died when ...
Criminal Investigation Command (CID) report into allegations of assault, cruelty and maltreatment of a detainee by guards at Abu Ghraib. Among the detainee's allegations, he stated that a US Army Sergeant hung him by his arms from the bars of a ...
Investigation into abuse of detainee upon capture and on a subsequent occasion in Baghdad. Detainee was captured on 03/19/04 by Iraqi Police and turned over to custody of Americans. He was taken to Al Azhamiyah base. Detainee's account of who ...
Investigation into abuse of detainee who was captured on 01/04/04. Investigation found there was no probable cause to believe the offenses occurred as alleged; therefore, they are unfounded. The only names identified by this investigation were ...