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 (6015)

A detainee who was held in US custody claims to have been “beaten” in an unspecific manner and by persons whom he could not describe and at a location and time that could not be determined. Despite this, a thorough investigation listed the ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault
A detainee alleges that while in US custody he was assaulted during interrogation. The investigation established probable cause to believe detainee was assaulted during interrogations at an unknown location by unknown individuals. Detainee was ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault
A detainee alleges he was burned with "hot gases" coming from a transport vehicle while he lay on his stomach in the back of the vehicle while being transported. Medical records revealed that the detainee suffered burn injuries which required ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Investigative File (CID)
Physical assault, General, Stress positions, Cramped confinement
Summary of investigations into abuse of detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq. 56 incidents not in facility: 7 death investigations. (3 homicides. 1 justifiable homicide. 3 investigations pending). 19 thefts. 29 assaults. 1 sexual assualt. 141 ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Physical assault, Assault/death, Threat
Deleted Page Information Sheet Pages
Updates and supplements information paper prepared to provide information on CID investigations into allegations of abuse committed against detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan who are/were in US custody and the known disposition of cases following ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Physical assault, Assault/death, Threat
This memo discusses investigations and outcomes including punishment. Total of 62 cases of detainee abuse and/or death have been or are being investigated - 46 by CID and 16 at the unit level. There are a variety of cases discussed. Many have ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Thomas J. Romig
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
Discusses existence of new photos of abuse of detainees. A CD of photographs was provided by CIA to Department of Defense who forwarded it to the Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID). Some of the photographs were the Abu Ghraib ones shown ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Non-legal Memo
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Janis Leigh Karpinski
Sexual, General, Sexual, Physical assault, Other Humiliation
Powerpoint presentation about Geneva Convention issues and detainee concerns.
This email contains an attachment of a chronology and talking points concerning the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, detainee operations at the prison and the 60 Minutes television report on the matter. The information paper also details responses ...
Feb. 15, 2006
Email
David D. McKiernan