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 (6709)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Nov. 16, 2001 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3659
Letter refers to an attached memo regarding the historical treatment of detainees. [Letter is not included].
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Evan T. Bloom
William J. Haynes, II, Todd F. Buchwald, David W. Bowker, Joshua L. Dorosin, Harry R. Melone, Eric J. Pelofsky, Mary Comfort, Andre M. Surena, David Kay, Evan T. Bloom, Edward R. Cummings
Nov. 05, 2001 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3660
DOS Cover Sheet to attached papers requested by the Office of Global Criminal Justice from the Department Historian on Nuremberg and past U.S. detentions. [Documents are not included].
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
Jonathan B. Schwartz, Edward R. Cummings, Todd F. Buchwald, David Kay, Andre M. Surena, Katherine M. Gorove, Evan T. Bloom, Thomas B. Heinemann, Ted A. Borek, D. Stephen Mathias, Marc Susser
Nov. 02, 2001 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3661
These two (2) memos are background and history of the Establishment of the Nuremberg Tribunal, and Detention of POWs, Unlawful Combatants, and Other Detainees. The memos are designed to address concerns and questions about the legal authority of ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Non-legal Memo
Marc Susser
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Marc Susser, Pierre-Richard Prosper
Feb. 06, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 3662
DOS Cable from Colin L. Powell to U.S. Ambassador to Australia, John Thomas Schieffer. The Cable discusses the POW status or non-status of the Taliban and Al-Qaida detainees, and explains the specific privileges the detainees will be afforded.
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Colin L. Powell
John Thomas Schieffer
John Thomas Schieffer, Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad, Howard H. Leach, Daniel Ray Coats, Ryan C. Crocker, James C. Oberwetter, William Stamps Farish, IV, Alexander R. Vershbow , Paul Cellucci, Tom C. Korologos, Pamela Willeford, Colin L. Powell
Feb. 07, 2002 | WH | ACLU-RDI 3663
Press release from the Office of the White House Press Secretary, discussing the status of Taliban and Al-Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo. The press release outlines that detainees are not POWs and while they will be treated humanely and in ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Other
Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush
Feb. 27, 2002 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 3664
Email refers to a paper from the National Security Council that discusses the legal status of detainees. [Document is not included].
Nov. 23, 2004
Email
Evan T. Bloom
Stephen D. Mathias
D. Stephen Mathias, Samuel M. Witten, Linda Jacobson, Thomas B. Heinemann, David W. Bowker, Eric J. Pelofsky, Andre M. Surena, Katherine M. Gorove, JoAnn J. Dolan, Ted A. Borek, Catherine Mary Malin, Harry R. Melone
Dec. 11, 2002 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 3665
DOJ Fact Sheet discussing their investigation of terrorist organizations and groups since 9/11/2001. Also, the fact sheet explains the necessity for withholding the names, dates, and locations of arrest of detainees.
Nov. 23, 2004
Other
Harry R. Melone
May 04, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4620
This State Department Cable is entitled "Subject: Secretary's May 6, 2004, Conversation with ICRC (International Committee for the Red Cross) President Jakob Kellenberger". There is no other discernible information or context.
Nov. 23, 2004
Cable
Richard A. Boucher
Mar. 16, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4621
This letter is from William H. Taft, IV of the State Department to Jakob Kellnberger, President of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) concerning an Opinion Editorial a member of the ICRC's legal staff wrote for the Financial ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
William Howard Taft, IV
Jakob Kellnberger
William Howard Taft, IV
May 11, 2004 | DOS | ACLU-RDI 4622
This letter is from William H. Taft, IV, State Department Legal Adviser, to Christophe Girod, the Head of Delegation of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) concerning the U.S. transfer of Russian nationals from Guantanamo to ...
Nov. 23, 2004
Letter
William Howard Taft, IV
Christopher Girod
William Howard Taft, IV, Christophe Girod