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 (85)

Sworn statements of investigation of detainee abuse at Ramadi Palace, Iraq – July 11-12, 2003. Two soldiers were seen kicking bound detainees who were in custody. The soldiers were told that the Geneva conventions apply to all captured EPWs, but ...
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, General
Sworn statement of a Soldier who witnessed a Captain taking a detainee in to the desert and making a detainee dig his own grave. He also states that a Staff Sargent fired a live round at or near the detainees. This document relates to an AR 15-6 ...
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Mock Burial
Sworn statement of a soldier who witnessed an incident where an Army Captain abused a detainee. The Soldier witnessed the captain yelling and kicking a detainee. This document relates to an AR 15-6 investigations in to alleged detainee abuse at ...
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Threat, Assault/death
Sworn statement of a soldier who witnessed an incident where an Army Captain abused a detainee. The Soldier witnessed the Captain kicking and threatening detainees with a gun and treating them in a disrespectful way. Soldier witnessed the captain ...
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General, Threat, Assault/death, Mock Burial
Army AR 15-6 Investigation in to abuse allegations by a soldiers upon an Iraqi detainees in US custody. Three (3) soldiers at FOB entered the detainee holding area and "proceeded to enter the holding cell and physically assault the four (4) ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File
Physical assault, General
Following a roadside incident two (2) Iraqi civilians were awaiting soldier's investigation in to the matter, with their hands up and without any weapons. Several of these soldiers [proceeded to] punch, kick, butt stroke, and shout at the ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File, Photograph
Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, General
A soldier was convicted for threatening a detainee with a loaded weapon. Punishment includes: 180 day suspension, $250/month forfeiture for two months. The inquiry found that the soldier threatened and fired their weapon in an effort to scare ...
Apr. 18, 2005
UCMJ (Article 15)
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
A Staff Sargent near Tikrit, Iraq, on September 11, 2003, shot an Iraqi detainee. The shooting was described as "willfully and unlawful". The detainee was shot in the abdomen with a rifle. The SSGT admitted to the act and pleaded for leniency.
Apr. 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Raymond T. Odierno
Physical assault, General
This Charge Sheet describes charges brought against Soldiers who staged a mock execution on an Iraqi boy (13-17 years old) by driving him to a field and firing live rounds near his head. They claim it was done to scare him off from looting. The ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Legal Memo, UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death

Deceased is a 27-28 year old Pashtun male who was found unresponsive, restrained in his cell at Bagrahm Collection Point on 12/4/02. Cause of death: Pulmonary embolism due to blunt force objects. Manner of Death: Homicide. The autopsy ...

Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy, Death Certificate)
Habibullah
Physical assault, General