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 (1281)

Sworn statement by a Command Sergeant Major. States that detainees have "generally been blindfolded, hooded, or both." States that sometimes detainees were not immediately given blankets or mats, but "the longest I've seen someone without a ...
Sworn statement by a senior interrogator located at Radwaniya Palace Complex (RPC) from May to September 2003. Discusses interrogation procedures at a Temporary Holding Facility, and states, "Once detainees arrive, they are searched, screened for ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Threat, Stress positions, Sleep deprivation
Sworn statement by an Administrative Specialist who has "guarded at the RPC facility about 4 times." States that "there's no indication that any detainees have been abused." Mentions that detainees are "handcuffed all the time in their cell." ...
Sworn statement by a PFC who has guarded at Abu Ghraib prison. Discusses detention procedures, and states, "I've never known a detainee to be denied lunch. They generally have in their cell water and a little snack.... Usually they have a ...
Sworn statement by NCOIC of Interrogation Operations at Abu Ghraib Prison and responsible for screening detainee packets. States that only one detainee has "said anything to me about being beaten and coerced into doing anything."
Sworn statement by an intelligence analyst responsible for pre-briefing and post-briefing interrogators about detainees. Talks about interrogation procedures. Mentions that "a detainee came to us, who is now at Abu Ghraib. When he came he was ...
Sworn statement of a government civilian employee (GS-12) regarding detention practices. Mentions detainees "who were complaining" and who "had obvious injuries to their faces, their wrists, and water blisters on their legs." According to the ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Other Humiliation, Sexual
Sworn statement by an individual who was present at an interrogation. Refers to a detainee who alleged that he had been abused, "stripped, had a bag placed over his head, and was burned on the foot with a cigarette and hit on the side of his ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Use of electricity, Environmental manipulation, Hooding/Goggling
Sworn statement by a detainee who claimed to have served in the Iraqi Army as a technician. Detainee states that he was handcuffed and had a bag put over his head. He was held "for 17 days" with a bag over his head, "handcuffed to the floor." ...
June 30, 2006
Interview (Statement)
Physical assault, Sexual, General, Threat, Assault/death, Use of electricity, Dietary manipulation
Handwritten transcript of questions and answers regarding allegations of abuse; the name of the individual answering questions has been redacted. Interviewee implicates Iraqi Police in abuse, and states that there are no "allegations of abuse by ...