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 (146)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
July 05, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 91
Investigation prompted by NYT article containing victim's allegations of torture and abuse during detention in Abu Ghraib from November 29 through December 31, 2003. Investigation concludes there is not “sufficient evidence to prove or disprove ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Bisher Amin Khalil al Rawi
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation
July 02, 2004 | CID | ACLU-RDI 105
Investigations into numerous alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison and Al-Ademeya Palace based on reports from CACI and Titan translation employees. Alleged abuses include the physical beatings and humiliation of various detainees, forced exercise ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Jacqueline J. Scott, John Peterson
Use of water, Water dousing, Other, Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Family/others, Use of electricity, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training
July 01, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 964
First Lieutenant Glenn A. Niles, Jr. assaulted three (3) detainees at Al Taji Police Station, Baghdad on July 30, 2003. He admitted to striking two (2) detainees in the stomach with a closed fist and kicking the third in the shoulder. A petition ...
Apr. 06, 2005
UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Glenn A. Niles, Jr.
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Threat, Assault/death
June 30, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2537
Sworn statement by a Major, who discusses detainee operations. States, "ICDC [Iraqi Civilian Defense Corps] interview techniques were a little rougher than ours and there was a guy that got slapped, so the commander decided not to leave ICDC ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Assault/death, Use of phobias, Threat
June 30, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2598
Sworn statement of a U.S. Special Forces soldier who interrogated detainees in Tikrit, Iraq between February & May 2004. He is discussing interrogation and detention locations and procedures. States, "[We] used the interrogation techniques ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Assault/death, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Light or sound, Threat, Environmental manipulation
June 29, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2599
Sworn statement of an Operations Sergeant who discusses interrogation practices. Refers to a detainee, "our number one target," who was captured by Iraqi police, who "beat [redacted] with the pistol to the point where his head was split open in a ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, General, Assault/death, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Threat, Environmental manipulation
June 28, 2004 | CID | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 176
Email with an executive summary of investigations into a recordable compact disc containing images of suspected detainee abuse in in Afghanistan between January 11 and January 19, 2004. The images on the CD depicted U.S. soldiers holding weapons ...
Apr. 05, 2005
Investigative File (CID), Email
Physical assault, Threat, Assault/death, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
June 27, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2548
Sworn statement by a detainee who claimed to have served in the Iraqi Army as a technician. Detainee states that he was handcuffed and had a bag put over his head. He was held "for 17 days" with a bag over his head, "handcuffed to the floor." ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Dietary manipulation
June 20, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2600
Sworn statement of a detainee. States that, following his capture on April 27, 2004, he was put in a compartment so small that he could only sit in it. States he was severely beaten in an attempt to force a confession, threatened with rape, ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Dietary manipulation
June 16, 2004 | DON | ACLU-RDI 535
This US Marine Corp spreadsheet lists twenty (20) cases of alleged detainee abuse. The table of cases includes ten (10) substantiated incidents and ten (10) unsubstantiated incidents. The incidents include: beating detainees with fists; holding ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Chart/List
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity