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 (6709)

RelevanceDateRelease Date
Dec. 01, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6674
This document contains an interview of a redacted subject on the death of Gul Rahman. The interviewee describes Rahman's behavior as a detainee and the events that happened after learning of Rahman's death.
Sept. 02, 2016
Non-legal Memo
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Environmental manipulation, Temperature
Nov. 01, 2002 | ACLU-RDI 6672
This cable states that after cold conditions with minimal food and sleep, Gul Rahman admitted his identity to interrogators, including Bruce Jessen. Rahman was also reportedly confused and appeared somewhat incoherent.
Sept. 02, 2016
Cable
Bruce Jessen
Gul Rahman
EIT, Sleep deprivation, Isolation, Dietary manipulation, Environmental manipulation, Light or sound
Nov. 06, 2007 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6566
This letter from Steven Bradbury to the CIA's Associate General Counsel is a response to the CIA's November 6, 2007 letter regarding the interrogation of [redacted]. This letter states that applying the interrogation technique in question for the ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Letter
Steven G. Bradbury
Jan. 22, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6568
This Jan. 22, 2002 memo from Jay Bybee (OLC) to Alberto R. Gonzales (Counsel to Pres. George W. Bush) and William H. Haynes II (General Counsel of the DOD) responds to a request for advice on the effect of the War Crimes Act and the Geneva ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Jay S. Bybee
Alberto Gonzalez | William J. Haynes, II
Alberto Gonzalez, William J. Haynes, II, Jay S. Bybee, George W. Bush
July 13, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6570
An OLC memo from John Yoo to John Rizzo regarding "what is necessary to establish the crime of torture." The memo states that an individual must act with the "specific intent" to inflict severe mental pain or suffering to have committed torture, ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
John A. Rizzo
John C. Yoo, John A. Rizzo, Jennifer Koester
Aug. 01, 2002 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6571
This August 1, 2002 memo from John C. Yoo to Alberto Gonzales discusses standards of conduct for interrogations under the Torture Convention and under the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court.
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
John C. Yoo
Alberto Gonzalez
John C. Yoo, Alberto Gonzalez, Jay Bybee
June 23, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6573
This June 23, 2004 memo from Jack Goldsmith (OLC) to Scott W. Muller (General Counsel of the CIA) is a response to Muller's question of whether a redacted "terrorist operative" is a "protected person" and whether his [redacted] would violate the ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Jack Goldsmith
Scott Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith, Scott W. Muller
June 23, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6574
This June 23, 2004 memo from Jack Goldsmith (OLC) to Scott W. Muller (General Counsel of the CIA) is a response to Muller's question of whether a redacted "terrorist operative" is a "protected person" and whether his [redacted] would violate the ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo
Jack Goldsmith
Scott Muller
Scott W. Muller, Jack L. Goldsmith
July 07, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6576
This letter from Goldsmith to Muller addresses the use of interrogation techniques on a certain high-value detainee and is a follow-up to 2 previous memos approving 33 techniques (an OLC memo approved 9 and a memo from Secretary Rumsfeld approved ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Jack Goldsmith
Scott Muller
Jack L. Goldsmith, Scott W. Muller, John A. Rizzo, Jay Bybee, John Ashcroft, Donald H. Rumsfeld, James B. Comey
Aug. 06, 2004 | OLC | ACLU-RDI 6579
This letter from Levin to Rizzo addresses the use of waterboarding on a specific detainee. It concludes that "although it is a close and difficult question, the use of the waterboard technique in the contemplated interrogation of [redacted] ...
Aug. 31, 2016
Legal Memo, Letter
Daniel B. Levin
John A. Rizzo
Daniel B. Levin, John A. Rizzo, Jay Bybee
EIT, Use of water, Waterboarding