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 (1708)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
May 23, 2008 | DOJ | ACLU-RDI 4506
DOJ letter regarding ACLU, et al., v. Department of Defense, et al., which states that the CIA has re-reviewed documents concerning waterboarding and produced redacted versions of some of those documents. Letter also mentions that on May 12, ...
May 23, 2008
Letter, Judicial
Michael J. Garcia | Sean H. Lane | Peter M. Skinner
Melanca D. Clark
Michael J. Garcia, Sean H. Lane, Peter M. Skinner
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding
Mar. 14, 2003 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 5018

This legal memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the Justice Department to the Department of Defense analyzes the legal standards governing military interrogations of "alien unlawful combatans" held outside the United ...

Apr. 01, 2008
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
William J. Haynes, II
John C. Yoo, William J. Haynes, II, Timothy E. Flanigan, Alberto R. Gonzales, Patrick Philbin, Jay S. Bybee, Daniel J. Bryant, Robert J. Delahunty, Ari Fleischer, William Howard Taft, IV, John B. Bellinger, III, James C. Ho, Daniel Dell'Orto
July 14, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4793

An email from an FBI agent responding to a question about alleged abuse at Guantanamo Bay. The agent stated that he was stationed at Guantanamo Bay from June 2, 2003 to July 17, 2004. During the agent's time at GTMO, he/she occasionally ...

Jan. 02, 2007
Email
Yussef Mohammed Mubarak al Shihri
Use of water, Other, Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
Sept. 17, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4794
FBI Interviewed the Special Agent regarding his assignment to Guantanamo Bay. The agent was assigned to Guantanamo Bay as an interrogator from June 2, 2003 to July 17, 2003. During that time, the interviewee occasionally observed DOD personnel ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Interview (Summaries/Notes)
Sleep deprivation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Other Humiliation, Sexual, Religious, Other
Mar. 29, 2005 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4795
Interview of FBI Official-member of the Behavioral Science Division, interviewee was stationed at Guantanamo, Bay from mid-September 2002 until the end of October 2002. The agent stated that he witnessed at least three incidents of abuse, ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Interview (Statement, Summaries/Notes)
John T. Furlow
Physical assault, General, Threat, Stress positions, Use of phobias, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling, Other Humiliation, Religious, Forced grooming, Other
Sept. 02, 2004 | FBI | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4883
The memo discusses the result of their investigation/survey. It states that 9 FBI employees, of the 532 who were assigned to Guantanamo after 9/11, observed aggressive mistreatment, interrogations and interview techniques of GTMO detainees. ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File
Bruce J. Gebhardt
Bruce J. Gebhardt, Valerie E. Caproni
Sept. 23, 2004 | FBI | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4884
Memo discusses the result of the Office of Inspections special inquiry into abuse of detainees at Guantanamo after September 11, 2001. The office sent a survey to FBI employees who were assigned to Guantanamo after 9/11 requesting them to ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File
Valerie E. Caproni | Thomas J. Harrington
Valerie E. Caproni, Donald W. Thompson, Jr, Thomas J. Harrington, Robert D. Grant
Sept. 23, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4885
Memo discusses the conclusion of the special inquiry into Guantanamo Bay abuse allegation after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The memo mentions the attachment of documents, the only one that is visible is a copy of handwritten notes, an FD-340, ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Notes
Robert D. Grant
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4886
This email is a response to a Bureau wide memo sent by Steve McCraw to illicit information from FBI agents who toured through Guantanamo Bay to report any suspected or witnessed abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. This FBI agent states that he ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Non-legal Memo, Email
Steven C. McCraw
Stress positions, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature, Other
Aug. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 4887
These emails are a response to for a request for feedback from FBI agents who have cycled through Guantanamo and witnessed detainee abuse. An agent responded and wrote "I did observe treatment that was not only aggressive, but personally very ...
Jan. 02, 2007
Email
Valerie E. Caproni
Valerie E. Caproni
Stress positions, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Light or sound, Temperature, Nudity, Environmental manipulation