Torture

Washington, D.C., 17 October 2008 – The new documentary film on the Bush administration’s interrogation and detention policies, Torturing Democracy, will air on Washington D.C.’s WETA-TV tonight at 10 p.m. Produced and written by eight-time Emmy winner and National Security Archive fellow Sherry Jones, the documentary has drawn major online buzz as well as New York Times coverage of PBS’s failure to find a national scheduling spot for the film before President Bush leaves office in January 2009.

Update - December 12, 2006 Communiquй from Authors of the Draft Report of the Special Prosecutor (in Spanish) Click here to read the press release (also in Spanish) The authors of the draft report of the Special Prosecutor, "ЎQue no vuelva a suceder…!" (parts of which were posted by the National Security Archive on February 26, 2006), have written a critique of the government's official report, "Informe Histуrico a la Sociedad Mexicana - 2006." In their communiquй, the authors object to changes made to their original findings and ask the government to recognize the conclusions and recommend

The horrific September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon brought all of us here at the Archive feelings of rage at the hijackers, grief for the thousands who were murdered, and also determination that we will contribute to finding the best ways for America to respond. The Archive's mission is to put on the record the primary source documentation that can enrich the policy debate, improve journalism, educate policymakers, and ensure that we don't reinvent the wheel or repeat the mistakes of the past.

Washington, D.C., 13 March 2006 - The National Security Archive, along with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), on March 10 filed a "friend of the court" brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The brief asks the Court to uphold a lower court decision ordering the Department of Defense to comply with a FOIA request for photos and digital movies depicting the abuse of detainees by American troops at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq.

Washington, D.C., October 6, 2005 - After failing in 2000, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is again seeking an exception from disclosure of vast quantities of important Defense Department records currently available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The exception would render records that document “the conduct of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence operations” of the DIA Directorate of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) unreachable to the public. The provision currently is included in the Defense Authorization Bill (S. 1042) and the Intelligence Authorization Bill (S.

Washington, D.C. October 29, 2004 - The Department of Defense has refused to release the names of military officers in the chain of command over the soldiers charged with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to an analysis of the documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. DOD also refused to release the names of the officers who reviewed the so-called "Taguba Report," which recommended disciplinary and administrative actions for the abuses perpetrated at Abu Ghraib.

"All of those up and down the chain of command who bear any responsibility must be held accountable for the brutality and humiliation they inflicted on the prisoners and for the damage and dishonor that they brought to our nation and to the United States armed forces, which is otherwise filled with honorable men and women acting with courage and professionalism to bring stability and security and reconstruction to Iraq." -- Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich), Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing May 11 2004 "There must be a full accountability for the abuse of Iraq detainees and important quest

Washington D.C. May 12, 2004: CIA interrogation manuals written in the 1960s and 1980s described "coercive techniques" such as those used to mistreat detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to the declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive. The Archive also posted a secret 1992 report written for then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney warning that U.S.