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 (126)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
July 07, 2004 | DON | ACLU-RDI 5019

This memo by Alberto Mora, General Counsel of the Navy, gives the chronology of his opposition (and the opposition of other members of the Navy) to the harsh interrogation techniques authorized for use at Guantanamo Bay by Secretary of Defense ...

Feb. 27, 2006
Legal Memo
Alberto Mora
Albert T. Church
Alberto Mora, Albert T. Church, Donald H. Rumsfeld, William J. Haynes, II, Mary Walker, Thomas F. Kranz, William R. Molzahn, Charlotte O. Wise, Richard W. Schieke, Michael F. Lohr, Kevin M. Sandkuhler, Peter Murphy, David Brant, Michael Gelles, Steven J. Morello, Thomas W. Taylor, Michael E. Dunlavey , Diane E. Beaver, Gordon R. England, William J. Fallon, Kevin P. Green, Susan M. Livingstone, George W. Bush, Jaymie Durnan, Paul Wolfowitz, Jane Dalton, Daniel Dell'Orto, John C. Yoo, Patrick Leahy, Daniel J. Ramos, James T. Hill, Geoffrey D. Miller
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Sept. 04, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 2078
This document is a letter from the defense counsel of an accused soldier for an adjournment in the proceedings for the soldier to be assigned new defense counsel and to allow that new counsel to prepare for trial in the matter. The facts of the ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo, Letter, UCMJ (Article 32)
Sexual, Assault/death, Family/others, Hooding/Goggling, Physical assault, Threat, Environmental manipulation
Sept. 16, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2250
Criminal Investigation Command (CID) report into allegations of assault, cruelty and maltreatment of a detainee by guards at Abu Ghraib. Among the detainee's allegations, he stated that a US Army Sergeant hung him by his arms from the bars of a ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Donald J. Ryder, Thom Jones
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Manipulation of interrogator’s identity, Other
Mar. 05, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2278
Investigation into abuse of detainee at Ramadi Palace before arriving at Abu Ghraib. Detainee alleges that he was hood and handcuffed, kicked and hit with the butt of a rifle in the back. Doctor found no signs of bruising. Marine Corps had ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
May 03, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 2294

This document is the Court Martial - charge and prosecution package for Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr. of the 372nd Military Police Company. SPC Graner was a key figure in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and this document contains the ...

Feb. 15, 2006
Photograph, UCMJ (Court-Martial), Judicial (Transcript)
Charles A. Graner, Jr.
Physical assault, Sexual, Assault/death, Family/others, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Sexual, Religious, Forced physical training, Threat, Environmental manipulation, Other Humiliation
June 12, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2298
Detainee alleged that while at Abu Ghraib prison several soldiers slapped; punched; choked; struck his head, shoulders, and arms with a retractable metal baton; jumped on him; forced him to lean against a wall in a seated position; forced him to ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Walling, Sexual, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Forced physical training
Nov. 02, 2005 | CID | ACLU-RDI 2300
Detainee reported that he was arrested after US forces found a weapon in his home. He was detained at Al Sijood Palace, Iraq, and it was during this detention he states he was hooded; flexicuffed; punched; kicked; yelled at; and threatened. ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Hooding/Goggling
Aug. 30, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1835
Emails discuss a detainee's allegation that he was butt stroked in the face by a Soldier after being captured, while blindfolded and flexcuffed.
Dec. 21, 2005
Email
Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
May 07, 2004 | DOD | ACLU-RDI 1837
Original email describes a visit from [redacted], a committee member of an Islamic human rights organization. The email also references a conversation between the author and [redacted] discussing alleged abuse cases that took place at Abu Ghraib.
Dec. 21, 2005
Email
Geoffrey D. Miller, Ricardo Sanchez
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, 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