Guantanamo Bay files leak The Guantánamo Bay files leak ( also known as The Guantánamo Files ) began on 25 April 2011 , when WikiLeaks , along with several independent news organizations , began publishing 779 formerly secret documents relating to detainees at the United States ' Guantánamo Bay detention camp established in 2002 after its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 . The documents consist of classified assessments , interviews , and internal memos about detainees , which were written by the Pentagon ' s Joint Task Force Guantanamo , headquartered at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base . The documents are marked " secret " and NOFORN ( information that is not to be shared with representatives of other countries ) . Media reports on the documents note that more than 150 innocent Afghans and Pakistanis , including farmers , chefs , and drivers , were held for years without charges . The documents also reveal that some of the prison ' s youngest and oldest detainees , who include Mohammed Sadiq , an 89 - year - old man , and Naqib Ullah , a 14 - year - old boy , suffered from fragile mental and physical conditions . The files contain statements from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , the planner of the 9 / 11 attacks , who said that al - Qaeda possessed nuclear capacity and would use it to retaliate for any attack on Osama bin Laden . The files also reveal the fate of wanted terrorist Mustafa Mohammed Fadhil , who had been quietly removed from the FBI ' s most wanted terrorists list in 2005 . Source of the leak . " The New York Times " said it received the documents from an anonymous source other than WikiLeaks , and it shared them with other news outlets such as NPR and " The Guardian " . WikiLeaks suggested on Twitter that the source might be Daniel Domscheit - Berg , a former associate . WikiLeaks noted that " our first partner , " The Telegraph " , published the Gitmo Files at 1 : 00 AM GMT , long before " NYT " or " Guardian " . " Reuters speculated that the original source of the leak may have been Chelsea Manning , a United States soldier then known as Bradley Manning , who was detained for allegedly having leaked other material to WikiLeaks . " The Guardian " reported that " the Gitmo files are the fifth ( and very nearly the final ) cache of data that disaffected U . S . soldier Bradley Manning is alleged to have turned over to the WikiLeaks website more than a year ago . " Before the time of Manning ' s alleged leak , WikiLeaks was already being reported and rumored to have Gitmo files . The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said the documents remained legally classified despite the leaks . It informed the lawyers who represent the prisoners in Guantanamo that they were not allowed to read the documents , which have been published by the " New York Times " and other major media outlets . The U . S . government issued a statement : " It is unfortunate that " The New York Times " and other news organizations have made the decision to publish numerous documents obtained illegally by WikiLeaks concerning the Guantanamo detention facility . " The documents seem to be " Detainee Assessment Briefs " ( DABs ) written between 2002 and 2009 and " may or may not represent the current view of a given detainee . " Notable elements . " The Guardian " noted that , despite the government ' s claim of having detained dangerous militants , the files , which covered almost all the prisoners held since 2002 , revealed an emphasis of holding people to extract intelligence . Although many prisoners were assessed as not posing a threat to security , they were nonetheless detained for lengths of time . The files showed that nearly 100 detainees had been diagnosed with depressive or psychotic illnesses . The United States tried to retain British nationals and legal residents , such as Jamal al - Harith and Binyam Mohamed , for intelligence value , although its agents knew neither were members of the Taliban or al - Qaeda , and Mohamed had been tortured , so any " evidence " he provided was suspect due to that fact . " The Guardian " noted that the files revealed that the U . S . relied strongly on evidence obtained from a relatively few number of detainees , most of whom had been tortured . One detainee made allegations against more than 100 other detainees , so many that his accusations should have been considered suspect . The U . S . issued guidance to its interrogators that was based on assumptions of threat based on flimsy associations – through attendance at particular mosques , stays at certain guest houses in Pakistan and Afghanistan , and other elements . The Guantanamo Files revealed that Sami al - Hajj , an " Al - Jazeera " journalist and camerman , was detained from 2002 to 2008 , allegedly in part so that U . S . officials could interrogate him about the news network . According to the file , he was detained " to provide information on . . . the al - Jazeera news network ' s training programme , telecommunications equipment , and newsgathering operations in Chechnya , Kosovo and Afghanistan , including the network ' s acquisition of a video of UBL [ Osama bin Laden ] and a subsequent interview with UBL . " He was considered to be " a HIGH risk , as he is likely to pose a threat to the US , its interests , and allies " and " of HIGH intelligence value . " Sami al - Haji has said that he was beaten and sexually assaulted in detention . His lawyer Clive Stafford Smith , also legal director of the British organisation Reprieve , said that the U . S . had tried to force al - Haji to become an informant against his employers . Threat by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed . Other documents cited Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , the planner of the 9 / 11 attacks , saying that if Osama bin Laden was captured or killed by U . S . allies , an Al - Qaeda sleeper cell would detonate a " weapon of mass destruction " in a " secret location " in Europe . He said it would be " a nuclear hellstorm " . By March 2003 , Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been waterboarded at least 183 times by the CIA , which held him in custody until September 2006 , when he was transferred to Guantanamo . , no such attack occurred following the killing of bin Laden in May 2011 . Al - Qaeda has vowed to retaliate . Reactions . WikiLeaks has said that , as with previous releases , at least as important as the content of the published documents is that readers should note the reaction of each media news outlet . For instance , WikiLeaks suggested " [ comparing ] the first paragraph of these two stories about the same thing " by BBC and " CNN " . The BBC version opened with the following statement : CNN stated : The contrast between foreign and United States media was noted by several journalists , including Glenn Greenwald of " Salon " . He described the differences as " stark , predictable and revealing " . " Foreign newspapers highlight how these documents show U . S . actions to be so oppressive and unjust , while American newspapers downplayed that fact . "