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 (500)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
July 04, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2299
A detainee claims that he was in a vehicle with other Iraqi men who possessed AK-47s. The men attempted to avoid a road-side checkpoint and were stopped by US gunfire. While the men were detained at the roadside, several Iraqi civilians began to ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Forced physical training, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity
July 02, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 1819
Investigation of abuse of a detainee by a linguist hired by Titan Corporation during an interrogation in Karbala, Iraq. Investigation established that there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove listed offenses. Titan interrogator's ...
Dec. 21, 2005
Investigative File (CID)
Face slap or insult slap, General, Physical assault
June 16, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2289

Female detainee alleged she was abused while in US custody. The investigation stated that there was insufficient evidence to prove the offenses of aggravated assault and cruelty and maltreatment. Detainee alleges she was forced to stand ...

Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Use of water, Water dousing, Physical assault, Walling, General, Sleep deprivation, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
June 14, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2297
A detainee claims that after he was apprehended, but before being detained at Abu Ghraib prison, he was brought to an unknown facility (presumably the Baghdad International Airport), interrogated and beaten. The report confirmed the detainee was ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, General
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
June 05, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2275
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
June 01, 2005 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 2229
Emails include a PowerPoint slide entitled "CID Detainee Summary Briefing for the Director of the Army Staff," The summary discusses detainee abuses and deaths, highlighted among the deaths are the deaths of Abed Hamed Mowhoush, Zaydun Ma'mun ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
Abed Hamed Mowhoush, Zaydun Ma'mun Fadhil, Dilawar, Habibullah
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Other
May 27, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 5485
A CID prosecution of a Sergeant First Class (SFC) for the murder of Iraqi civilian, Salih Taher Khaleefa, and the maltreatment of an unidentified Iraqi juvenile. The investigation found that the SFC "shot and killed Mr. Khaleefa without ...
Jan. 14, 2011
Investigative File (CID), Notes, Photograph, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Salih Taher Khaleefa
Physical assault, General, Face slap or insult slap, Threat, Assault/death, Other Humiliation
May 14, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2277
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
May 04, 2005 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 683
Sworn statement of an Army Specialist intelligence analyst assigned to Abu Ghraib prison as a member of the Tiger Team of Interrogators. He stated that he did not conduct interviews initially and was very aware of the Rules of Engagement ...
Mar. 03, 2005
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, General, Use of phobias, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual