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 (570)

A soldier was convicted for threatening a detainee with a loaded weapon. Punishment includes: 180 day suspension, $250/month forfeiture for two months. The inquiry found that the soldier threatened and fired their weapon in an effort to scare ...
Apr. 18, 2005
UCMJ (Article 15)
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
A soldier was convicted for striking a detainee and threatening the same detainee with a loaded weapon. In addition, the soldier was found to have attempted to impede an investigation by influencing sworn statements. He tried to prevent a ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Interview (Statement), UCMJ (Article 15, Article 32)
Physical assault, Assault/death, Mock Burial, Threat
A soldier took a bottle that a detainee had urinated in and threatened to force the detainee to drink the urine. The detainee was not assaulted or forced to consume the urine. Punishment for the soldier included psychiatric counseling; clean all ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File
Threat, Assault/death
A soldier was found to be guilty of inappropriate action towards a Detainee at Camp Bucca by using disparaging words and displaying a "Star of David" necklace and expressing anti-Arab views. The soldier denied the accusations.
Apr. 18, 2005
Investigative File
Religious, Other, Other Humiliation
A Staff Sargent near Tikrit, Iraq, on September 11, 2003, shot an Iraqi detainee. The shooting was described as "willfully and unlawful". The detainee was shot in the abdomen with a rifle. The SSGT admitted to the act and pleaded for leniency.
Apr. 18, 2005
Non-legal Memo, Investigative File (AR 15-6)
Raymond T. Odierno
Physical assault, General
This Charge Sheet describes charges brought against Soldiers who staged a mock execution on an Iraqi boy (13-17 years old) by driving him to a field and firing live rounds near his head. They claim it was done to scare him off from looting. The ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Legal Memo, UCMJ (Court-Martial)
Physical assault, General, Threat, Assault/death
Autopsy Number: 03-366-B. According to reports, other detainees brought this Iraqi male detainee to the gate. He had apparently complained of chest pain during his detention. He appeared to have been dead for some time. Cause of Death: ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy, Death Certificate)
Wathik Salah Mihdy
Autopsy Number: 03-366-B. Other detainees brought Iraqi male detainee to gate. He had apparently complained of chest pain during his detention and appeared to have been dead for some time. Cause of Death: Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy, Death Certificate)
Wathik Salah Mihdy
Autopsy Number: 03-369. Emad Kazam Taleb was a prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison. On or about August 20, 2003 he was noted to be pulseless and apneic. Autopsy found an enlarged heart and significant narrowing of one of the arteries supplying blood ...
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy, Death Certificate)
Taleb Ehad Kazen
Autopsy No: A03-51. Civilian detainee, 52 year old Iraqi male, found unresponsive outside in isolation at Whitehorse detainment facilitiy. Cause of Death: Strangulation. Manner of Death: Homicide.
Apr. 18, 2005
Medical (Autopsy)
General, Physical assault