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 (1471)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 28, 2003 | CIA | ACLU-RDI 6509
These guidelines, issued by George Tenet, detail permissible interrogation techniques (including EITs), medical and psychological personnel who must be present, interrogation personnel, approvals required, and recordkeeping requirements.
June 10, 2016
Non-legal Memo, Chart/List
George Tenet
George J. Tenet
EIT, Physical assault, Face slap or insult slap, Stomach/abdominal slap, Attention grasp, Facial hold, Walling, Stress positions, Cramped confinement, Use of phobias, Sleep deprivation, Other Humiliation
| ACLU-RDI 6502
N/A
Aug. 20, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6499
This heavily redacted message describes one instance (on August 4, 2002) of "the aggressive phase" of high value captive interrogation and recommends its use as a template for future interrogation.
Non-legal Memo, Cable
ALEC Info Director
EIT, Stress positions, Environmental manipulation
| ACLU-RDI 6493
This memorandum prepared for Steve Bradbury details intelligence the CIA obtained through the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.
June 13, 2016
Non-legal Memo
[Redacted] Legal Group DCI Counterterrorist Center
Steve Bradbury
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Walid Bin Attash, Abd al Aziz Ali, Riduan "Hambali" Isamuddin, Lillie (Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep), Hassan Ghul
July 08, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6489
N/A
June 13, 2016
Non-legal Memo
Unknown
Attorney General
EIT
| ACLU-RDI 6479
This document is a CIA Memo drafted for the Deputy Director for Operations via the Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Counterintelligence. The memo contains background information related to the treatment and condition of detainees as it ...
Non-legal Memo
James Pavitt
James Pavitt
Gul Rahman
Use of water, Physical assault, General, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound, Temperature
| ACLU-RDI 6478
This February 27, 2004 memo from James L. Pavitt, Deputy Director for Operations to the Inspector General, discusses the success of the CIA's new counterterrorism detention and interrogation program, by providing detailed accounts of the use of ...
Non-legal Memo
James Pavitt
Inspector General
EIT, Use of water
Sept. 02, 2004 | FBI | ACLU-RDI 6469
This document is a memo in reference to a NCIS request for the FBI to release information on all people who have had interaction with two detainees who have alleged abuse at the hands of military personnel and their interpreters. The detainees' ...
Oct. 30, 2009
Non-legal Memo
FBI Office of General Counsel
Counter Terrorism Unit
June 18, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6466
This document is a cover page of an FBI report regarding recommendations of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) during the on-site review process at GTMO. The recommendations are based on the prediction that the operations at GTMO regarding the ...
Oct. 30, 2009
Non-legal Memo
Behavioral Analysis Unit | Critical Incident Response Group
Jan. 15, 2004 | ACLU-RDI 6465
This document is a "Welcome aboard packet" for Rotation 6 of FBI agents in Iraq. Contains a mission statement, general instructions and recommendations for life at the Baghdad Operations Center (BOC). The document names On Scene Commander, E. ...
Non-legal Memo
Edward H. Lueckenhoff, M. Chris Briese