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 (103)

A soldier was found to be guilty of inappropriate action towards a Detainee at Camp Bucca by using disparaging words and displaying a "Star of David" necklace and expressing anti-Arab views. The soldier denied the accusations.
Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File
Religious, Other, Other Humiliation
A 17 year-old Iraqi male detainee, Basim Mohammed Hussein, complains of back pain after being beaten by coalition forces. Claims to have been beaten at a house near Al-Adamiya Palace. He was beaten for eight days, including having his head was ...
Court Martial Records of SPC Megan Ambuhl, who did not participate in abuse of detainees, but pled guilty to Dereliction of Duty for not reporting the activities of MP and MI personnel at Abu Ghraib Prison. She was sentenced to forfeiture of 1/2 ...
In October 2003, Specialist Cruz participated in the abuse of detainees in the Hard Site at Abu Ghraib. Spc. Cruz and others ordered three (3) detainees to strip naked. The detainees were handcuffed together with metal handcuffs "to mess with ...
Apr. 06, 2005
UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Armin J. Cruz
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual, General, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Forced physical training

An email between members of the Staff Judge Advocate, forwarding a Washington Post article titled "Documents Helped Sow Abuse, Army Report Finds," from August 30, 2004.

AR 15-6 investigation into a suspected incident of assault. On November 29th, 2003 members of the 187th Infantry Regiment detained in Iraqi male for questioning. The soldiers took a video of themselves assaulting the detainee. The chain of ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Other Humiliation
This is the deposition of Brigadier General Janis L. Karpinski regarding conditions at Abu Ghraib Detention Facility. In her interview, Gen. Karpinski testified that she visited cell blocks 1A and 1B regularly; that Abu Ghraib housed juveniles ...
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
Sworn statement from a CACI contractor who screened detainees arriving at Abu Ghraib from Asamiya Palace (alternate spelling: Adhamiya Palace) from mid-December 2003 through January 2004. The Screener describes in her statement hearing ...
Sworn statement from civilian contractor with the Titan Corp. concerning his role and duties in the interrogation of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in October 2003. Stated that he/she did not witness nudity, use of dogs (heard them) and heard ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, General, Sleep deprivation, Nudity, Other Humiliation