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 (73)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
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
May 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 787
This statement by an Army Captain with the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion was at several operating bases in Iraq and specifically at Camp Victory Bushmaster, Dogwood and Abu Ghraib Prison on or about July 23, 2003. The Capt. stated that ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Thomas Pappas, Ricardo Sanchez
Use of water, Physical assault, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other
May 20, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 1756

This Court Martial record (volume 5 of 8) discusses the court martial proceedings of Staff Sergeant Ivan L. Frederick, II, who was charged for offenses he committed while assigned to the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility on or about November 08, ...

Nov. 30, 2005
UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Ivan L. Frederick, II, Romie Leslie Brownlee, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ricardo Sanchez, Antonio Taguba, George R. Fay, Megan M. Ambuhl, Charles A. Graner, Jr., Jeremy C. Sivits, Javal Sean Davis, Sabrina D. Harman, Armin J. Cruz, Lynndie Rana England, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, Geoffrey D. Miller, Walter Wojdakowski, Barbara G. Fast, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Steven L. Jordan, Jason L. Jones, Togo D. West, Jr., Richard A. Coleman, J.L. Johnson, J.S. Mobley, Barbara G. Fast, Thomas Pappas
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Threat, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced grooming, Other
May 19, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 2829

Cable summarizes the results of 14 interviews of FBI personnel who participated in detainee interviews at Abu Ghraib between October and December 2003. Attached to the cable is a classified chart of FBI personnel who conducted interviews at ...

Dec. 15, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Thomas J. Harrington | Valerie E. Caproni
Thomas J. Harrington, Valerie E. Caproni, Chris Swecker, J. Stephen Tidwell, Janice K. Fedarcyk, Brenton L. Mosher, Warren T. Bamford, Edward J. Barrett
Physical assault, General, Threat, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity
May 18, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 667
Sworn statement of sergeant at Abu Ghraib including a description of his surprise that "certain approaches" were acceptable. He witnessed a detainee left in cold temperatures without clothes or a blanket and with untreated wounds. The sergeant ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Thomas Pappas, Barbara G. Fast, Ricardo Sanchez
Use of water, Other, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming, Other
May 13, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 761
This is the second statement given by this Soldier/Interrogator concerning his observations and activities at Abu Ghraib prison. He states that he did in-fact witness Military Police and Interrogators "slap" and roughly handle detainees, ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
George R. Fay
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Attention grasp, Assault/death, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Light or sound, Nudity, Threat, Environmental manipulation
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 11, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 716
Unknown interviewee was assigned to AG to establish connectivity of computers. Recalled an incident where an MI explained to an interrogator that a detainee was unavailable for interrogation because he had been interrogated for 10 hrs, stripped ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Other
May 10, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 660
This document is the condensed notes of an interview of at Screener in Abu Ghraib Prison from Mid-December 2003 through January 2004. The interview is a verbatim rendition of the Screener’s statement and it is noted that the statement is to be ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
George R. Fay
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, Walling, Sexual, General, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
May 09, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4063
Emails include an Associated Press article that reports on allegations of abuse in Iraq. The article includes accounts of abuse by released detainees, allegations included dog attacks, dietary manipulation and extended periods of hoodings.
Dec. 30, 2004
Email
Theresa K. Mitchell | JoAnn J. Dolan | Todd F. Buchwald | Harold L. Ingram
Janis Leigh Karpinski, JoAnn J. Dolan, Todd F. Buchwald, Harold L. Ingram, Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Peter G. Schmeelk , Rose M. Likins, Robin H. Sakoda, William J. Gehron
Rahad Naif, Hassan Naif, Saad Naif, Ra'id Mohammed Hassan
Use of electricity, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Other