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 (80)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
June 21, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1182
Investigation of photographs taken of a hooded and flexcuffed detainee in a stress position with a U.S. soldier simulating sodomy on him with a broomstick. Investigation shows that the detainees were not put into the stress positions for reasons ...
May 16, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Physical assault, Sexual, Stress positions, Other Humiliation, Sexual
July 06, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 970
Army AR 15-6 investigation in to missing property belonging to Iraqis working as translators. The facts are that several translators working at the Division of Civil Military Operations Center were detained in a raid. They were held for seven (7) ...
Aug. 25, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 974
Army AR 15-6 Investigation in to the shooting of an un-armed Iraqi civilian at the Baqubah Airfield in Iraq. The Inquiry found that the soldier involved acted through "simple negligence" when handling a loaded pistol that accidently discharged ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Raymond T. Odierno
Physical assault, Other
Oct. 08, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 975
Army AR 15-6 Investigation in to the abuse of a detainee during interrogation. The investigation found that the soldiers from the 104th Intelligence Battalion “used an MP baton to hit a detainee’s feet and buttocks during the course of an ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Raymond T. Odierno
SERE, Physical assault
Sept. 05, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 976
Army AR 15-6 investigation into "soldier misconduct" involving soldiers placing a detainee between the hood and brush guard of a Humvee and driving him around. Allegations also included: Maltreatment of detainees; theft of private property; and ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement)
Raymond T. Odierno
Physical assault
Oct. 16, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 985
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
Dec. 28, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 495
Abu Malik Kenami was detained in Iraq on December 5, 2003. He was interrogated and then placed in to the general population at Abu Ghraib prison. From the 5th of December through the early morning of 9th of December Kenami was not obeying the ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Photograph, Interview (Statement)
Abu Malik Kenami
Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Forced physical training
May 06, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 496
AR 15-6 investigation into a suspected incident of assault. On November 29th, 2003 members of the 187th Infantry Regiment detained in Iraqi male for questioning. The soldiers took a video of themselves assaulting the detainee. The chain of ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Physical assault, Stomach/abdominal slap, Other Humiliation
Aug. 23, 2003 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 497
Investigation into three (3) instances of abuse: one in which a looter were stripped of his clothing and released from custody; another where an Iraqi was accidently shot; and a third in which a detainee was repeatedly hit in the head with a ...
Mar. 23, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6), Interview (Statement), UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Physical assault, General, Nudity
June 04, 2004 | DOA | OJAG | ACLU-RDI 208

A memorandum for the record from a Special Assistant to the Staff Judge Advocate certifying that the Master Disk of the Taguba report, provided to headquarters of Central Command (CENTCOM), is a true and accurate copy. The memo also discusses ...

Oct. 19, 2004
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Antonio Taguba, Janis Leigh Karpinski, Michael R. Osterhout