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 (8)

This is a moderately redacted cable which summarizes the mechanics and legal basis for use of enhanced interrogation techniques on detainees. The cable states that "our attorneys have presented our legal analysis to the legal adviser to the NSC, ...
This memorandum from the Office of the Assistant Attorney General to Alberto Gonzales examines the legal standards of conduct for interrogations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
This legal memorandum from John Yoo to Alberto Gonzales addresses treaties and laws applicable to the conflict in Afghanistan and the treatment of persons captured by U.S. armed forces. The memorandum concludes that these treaties do not protect ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
Alberto R. Gonzales
John C. Yoo, Alberto R. Gonzales, Robert J. Delahunty
November 2001 memo from Yoo and Delahunty to Gonzales summarizing treaties and laws applicable to the conflict in Afghanistan and to the treatment of persons captured by U.S. Armed Forces.
Dec. 15, 2009
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
Alberto R. Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales, John Yoo, Robert J. Delahunty, George W. Bush

This memo considers the use of military force to prevent or deter terrorist activity domestically and concludes that, “the President has both constitutional and statutory authority to use the armed forces in military operations, against ...

National Security Council fax cover page with the message: "Please review and provide any comnments/clearance by noon on Monday, June 21, 2004. Thank you," sent by John B. Bellinger, III. No additional comments or attachments.

Questions for Alberto Gonzalez, during his confirmation hearing, including many related to the treatment of detainees

June 01, 2005
Interview (Transcript)
Patrick Leahy
Alberto Gonzalez
Alberto R. Gonzales, John D. Ashcroft, Patrick Leahy, George W. Bush, Colin L. Powell, Donald H. Rumsfeld, George J. Tenet
This August 1, 2002 memo from Jay Bybee to Alberto Gonzales discusses standards of conduct for interrogations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment as implemented by 18 U.S. C. §§ ...
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
Alberto Gonzalez
Jay Bybee, Alberto Gonzalez