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 (115)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Jan. 15, 2009 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4547

An OLC memo stating that "the purpose of this memorandum is to confirm that certain propositions stated in several opinions issued by the Office of Legal Counsel in 2001-2003 respecting the allocation of authorities between the President ...

Mar. 02, 2009
Legal Memo
Steven G. Bradbury
Steven G. Bradbury, William J. Haynes, II, Jay S. Bybee, Daniel J. Bryant, Patrick Philbin, John C. Yoo, Alberto R. Gonzales, Edward M. Kennedy, Richard J. Durbin, John B. Bellinger, III, C. Kevin Marshall, Bradley T. Smith, David S. Kris
Feb. 07, 2003 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6818
This memo from John C. Yoo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, to the President of the American Bar Association provides the legal justification for the treatment of U.S. Civilians as Enemy Combatants, specifically regarding their lack of right ...
Jan. 07, 2009
Non-legal Memo
John C. Yoo
William J. Haynes, II
Robert Hirshon , Alfred P. Carlton Jr.
Aug. 01, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 4502

This is a heavily redacted version of an OLC memo later released in less-redacted form (at ACLU-RDI 4548).  This unredacted portions of this version of the memo from the OLC to the CIA discuss the anti-torture statute 18 U.S.C. 2340, ...

July 24, 2008
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
John A. Rizzo
Jay S. Bybee
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
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
Dec. 30, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 3547
Department of Justice Office of Legal Council on Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A. This memo superceding the August 2002 memo interpreting the anti-torture statute. The memo disagrees with the previous memo's ...
June 01, 2005
Legal Memo
Daniel B. Levin
James B. Comey
Daniel B. Levin, James B. Comey, George W. Bush
Jan. 21, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2752

Refers to Iraq matter. All content redacted.

Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
David E. Nahmias
Jack L. Goldsmith, David E. Nahmias
Jan. 21, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2753

Refers to mistake of law. All other content redacted.

Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
David E. Nahmias
Jack L. Goldsmith, David E. Nahmias
July 14, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 2757
Email from Terese L. McHenry re: unclassified version of CRM comments on OLC opinion forwarded to David E. Nahmias by Jack L. Goldsmith. All other contents redacted.
Oct. 15, 2004
Email
Jack L. Goldsmith
David E. Nahmias
Jack L. Goldsmith, David E. Nahmias, Teresa L. McHenry, Laura H. Parsky, Barry Sabin, Michael J. Mullaney, Ronnie Edelman