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)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Sept. 11, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 963
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
Feb. 12, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 984
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
June 09, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1053
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 ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Physical (non-death))
Basim Mohammed Hussein
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Use of electricity, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Aug. 02, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1118
The purpose of the memo was to provide updated information on the courts-martial involving allegations of military police's abuse against detainees in Abu Gharib Prison in Iraq. It outlines courts-martial on seven military police charged with ...
May 16, 2005
Legal Memo, UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Sexual, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training
May 07, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1179
Fax of a sworn statement which describes soldiers having photographs of naked female prisoners and being instructed by superiors to delete all such photographs from their computers in case of investigation. related to CID investigation. ACLU RDI 64.
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (CID), Interview (Statement)
Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
June 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1182
Investigation of photographs taken of a hooded and flexcuffed detainee in a stress position with a U.S. soldier simulating sodomy on him with a broomstick. Investigation shows that the detainees were not put into the stress positions for reasons ...
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Physical assault, Sexual, Stress positions, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Sept. 30, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1305
This document is the Charge Sheet against Sergeant Scott A. McKenzie for his Court Martial on abusing Iraqi detainees. It includes the charges; Articles of the UCMJ he is accused of violating; details of the charges; Sgt. McKenzie's plea to each ...
July 01, 2005
Legal Memo, UCMJ (Court-Martial)
David D. McKiernan
Scott A. McKenzie
Face slap or insult slap, Walling, General, Assault/death, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Other Humiliation, Physical assault, Threat
June 09, 2005 | DOA | SOUTHCOM | ACLU-RDI 4998

General Bantz J. Craddock, Commander United States Southern Command, ordered an AR 15-6 investigation into alleged instances of abuse at Guantanamo. He appointed Brigadier General John T. Furlow and Lieutenant General Randall M. Schmidt to ...

July 14, 2005
Oversight Report, Investigative File
Randall Mark Schmidt | John T. Furlow
Bantz J. Craddock, John T. Furlow, Randall Mark Schmidt
Mohammed al Qahtani, Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
Feb. 03, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1333
Results of a AR 15-6 investigation of photographs taken of John Walker Lindh by 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Describes photos taken of Lindh as "sophomoric". The Dep. Commander recommends counseling sessions, staff training and inclusion ...
July 15, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
David P. Burford
John Walker Lindh
Other Humiliation
Feb. 04, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1334
This Army Memo for the Record describes results of investigation in to the allegations that there were photos taken of John Walker Lindh, an American captured while fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan, while he was bound, blindfold and with a ...
July 15, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
David P. Burford
John Walker Lindh
Other Humiliation