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 (570)

RelevanceDateRelease Date

CID investigative report and accompanying documents into an incident of rioting during which detainees were shot and killed by Marines at Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq. The investigation concluded that the detainees had been attempting to escape. ...

Nov. 08, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Khalid Abbas Mahmood, Musa Abbas Farhan, Abbas Khalid Hamed, Khaled Aposs
CID report and accompanying documents related to an investigation into the mistreatment of a female Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison on October 7, 2003. The female prisoner stated that she was taken out of her cell and brought to an empty cell ...
Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Report of investigation in the death of a detainee at Abu Ghraib. The investigation concluded that the death was due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and the manner of death was natural. The report includes a photo packet and close-up ...
Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph
Taleb Ehad Kazen
Report of investigation and accompanying documents into the death of Najem Abed Mohamed (ISN 13020). Detainee died in custody on August 8, 2003 at Baghdad Central Confinement Facility. The investigation concluded that the manner of death was ...
Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Abed Mohammed Najem
Investigation into a soldier accused of robbery and malingering after he stole 180,000 Iraqi Dinar from two homes during a patrol search and then shot himself in the foot after being informed that he would be recommended for disciplinary action ...
Documents related to an investigation into the death of a detainee in custody at Abu Ghraib prison. The detainee had been on a hunger strike for eight days prior to his death. The report concluded that the death was due to natural causes.
Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Dahm Spah
Detainee alleged that he was arrested by U.S. forces and placed in a hole in the ground with other detainees at an unknown location in Samara, Iraq for about three days, then threatened with death and taken to a room where he was placed on a box ...
Dec. 30, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
John Peterson, Jacqueline J. Scott
Use of water, Other, Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of phobias, Nudity, Other Humiliation, Forced grooming, Other

An investigation into an allegation that, on December 31, 2003, a soldier threatened a detainee with a gun, fired the gun on the ground next to the detainee, and "butt-stroked" the detainee. The investigation "established ...

Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
Report of investigation into the abuse and mock execution of Iraqi civilians by a U.S. soldier on two separate occasions. Investigation established that the soldier committed the offenses of assault, conspiracy, release of a detainee without ...
Oct. 15, 2004
Investigative File (CID), Photograph, Interview (Statement)
Threat, Assault/death

An investigation into a detainee's allegation that he was "tortured" at a U.S. facility in Mosul in March 2004. Detainee indicated that after being arrested but before arriving at the facility, his captors -- American men in civilian ...