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)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Aug. 25, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1191
Email provides instructions on where to direct media queries upon the release of the Jones-Fay Investigative report in to abuse of detainees.
May 16, 2005
Email
Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones, George R. Fay
Aug. 25, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1192
Instructions on how to handle Abu Ghraib investigation on a public relations level. Primary message is that abuses at Abu Ghraib was committed by a "small group of soldiers and civilian contractors who apparently failed to respect the dignity of ...
May 16, 2005
Non-legal Memo
Ricardo Sanchez, George R. Fay, Paul J. Kern, Anthony R. Jones
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1194
Instructions about message and direction of media queries concerning Abu Ghraib abuse. the emails states "[It is] strongly recommend that any responses to queries regarding MP training of any sort should be answered strictly generically and ...
May 16, 2005
Email
Janis Leigh Karpinski, James R. Helmly, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1195
Department of Defense talking points on Abu Ghraib detainee abuse which highlight how abuse is fundamentally against American military standards, how the majority of U.S. soldiers conduct themselves honorably, and how the abuse will be ...
May 16, 2005
Email
Peter Pace, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt, Antonio Taguba, Ricardo Sanchez, George W. Casey, Jr., Geoffrey D. Miller, John P. Abizaid
May 03, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1197
Army Officer fowards an email with talking points to General Taguba and states the attachment is "talking points and background information being used to respond to media queries".
May 16, 2005
Email
Antonio Taguba
DOA | ACLU-RDI 1198
Army memo providing talking points emphasize Abu Ghraib abuse, stressing the abuse was an aberration that will be fixed.
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1199
Army email on Abu Ghraib prison abuse media queries and where and to whom such inquiries should be directed
May 16, 2005
Email
Janis Leigh Karpinski, James R. Helmly, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt
May 05, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1201
Email discusses an MSNBC leak of AR 15-6 Executive Summary. The Officer writing the email points out privacy questions, but notes "In the current media environment, it may not be worth fighting. The names are now out there and will be used. ...
May 04, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1202
Army public affairs officer discusses a press briefing where the detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and AR 15-6 reports being leaked to the press. Outlines questions anticipated based around the leaked Executive Summary.
May 16, 2005
Email
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Peter Pace
May 04, 2004 | DOA | ACLU-RDI 1203
Transcript of a media conversation where Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Public Affairs Lawrence Di Rita provides background to the Abu Ghraib investigation.
May 16, 2005
Email
Lawrence Di Rita, David D. McKiernan, Ricardo Sanchez, John P. Abizaid, Antonio Taguba, James R. Helmly, Richard B. Myers, Janis Leigh Karpinski, George R. Fay