Before the September 11 attacks, the United States condemned torture, protested secret tribunals, decried disappearances, and challenged secret and arbitrary detentions. This event presents evidence that details the sadistic treatment of detainees in the Bush administration’s “War on Terror.”

Writers and artists take the stage with a former military interrogator, a former CIA agent, and others to read from texts that have brought these abuses to light. Interspersed between readings, never-before-seen video interviews with former Guantánamo detainees put a human face on the torture program. Artist Jenny Holzer’s imagery incorporating U.S. government documents provides a backdrop to the readings.