[Peace-discuss] Judge Orders Thousands Of Torture Photos To Be Made Public

[David Johnson]

Judge Orders Thousands Of Torture Photos To Be Made Public

Description: 1abugh

 <https://www.popularresistance.org/category/resist/> Resist!
<https://www.popularresistance.org/tag/criminal-justice/> Criminal Justice,
<https://www.popularresistance.org/tag/torture/> Torture,
<https://www.popularresistance.org/tag/wars-and-militarism/> Wars and
Militarism 
By Kevin Gosztola,
<http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2015/03/20/judge-rules-us-government-has-f
ailed-to-justify-keeping-thousands-of-detainee-abuse-photos-secret/>
www.dissenter.firedoglake.com
March 22nd, 2015

  Powered by  <https://translate.google.com> Description:
https://www.google.com/images/logos/google_logo_41.pngTranslate

 
<https://www.popularresistance.org/judge-orders-thousands-of-torture-photos-
to-be-made-public/> 12

 
<http://www.printfriendly.com/print?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.
org%2Fjudge-orders-thousands-of-torture-photos-to-be-made-public%2F>
Description: Print FriendlyPrint Friendly

Above photo: US soldier beating a prisoner at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

Judge stays order for 60 days so the Solicitor General can determine whether
to file an appeal.

A federal district court judge will no longer accept the United States
government's secrecy arguments and has ruled that it must release thousands
of photographs of detainee abuse and torture in Afghanistan and Iraq,
including inhumane treatment at Abu Ghraib prison.

The government is "required to disclose each and all the photographs
responsive" to the Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)," according to the order by Judge
Alvin Hellerstein of the US District Court of the Southern District of New
York.

Hellerstein found that the government still had failed to justify keeping
each individual photograph secret. However, the judge stayed the order for
60 days so the Solicitor General could determine whether to file an appeal.

ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer reacted, "To allow the government
to suppress any image that might provoke someone, somewhere, to violence
would be to give the government sweeping power to suppress evidence of its
own agents' misconduct. Giving the government that kind of censorial power
would have implications far beyond this specific context."

"The photos are crucial to the public record," Jaffer argued. "They're the
best evidence of what took place in the military's detention centers, and
their disclosure would help the public better understand the implications of
some of the Bush administration's policies. And the Obama administration's
rationale for suppressing the photos is both illegitimate and dangerous."

The ACLU has pursued the release of records related to detainee treatment
and "the death of prisoners in United States custody and abroad after
September 11, 2001," since October 2003.

In October 2009, the Protected National Security Documents Act amended the
Freedom of Information Act to "provide that photographs could be made exempt
from disclosure for a three-year certification by the Secretary of Defense
to the effect that publication would endanger American lives." Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked President Barack Obama not to release
photographs of detainees abuse, for "fear of the consequences." Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates filed a certification to prevent the release of
photographs and the court upheld that certification.

Three years later, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta renewed the
certification, even though US troops had withdrawn and the war in Iraq had
been declared over.

Hellerstein found that Panetta's certification failed to show why the
release of the photos would continue to "endanger the citizens of the United
States, members of the United States Armed Forces or employees of the United
States Government deployed outside the United States." He contended
different circumstances existed when Panetta renewed the certification in
2012. He also agreed with the ACLU that Panetta's certification should have
dealt with each individual photograph and not been a blanket certification
to keep all photographs secret.

The government
<http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2015/02/06/judge-gives-us-government-a-wee
k-to-appeal-or-comply-with-order-involving-thousands-of-prisoner-abuse-photo
s/> disagreed with Hellerstein's decision on August 27, 2014, where he ruled
the certification was inadequate and instructed them to individually review
the photographs and inform him why each photograph could not be released.
Attorneys maintained the government had already gone through each photo back
in 2012 and did not have to do an individual review again.

Hellerstein did not buy the argument from the government that the Islamic
State would pose a greater threat if the photographs were released. As
Newsweek
<http://www.newsweek.com/us-government-warned-withholding-detainee-abuse-pho
tographs-304528> reported, he contended soldiers and citizens were as
"exposed" as they were when the court favored release in 2005.

It had been over half of a year since Hellerstein ruled that the
certification was "inadequate." The government made a last-ditch attempt to
thwart the judge's order by pleading for more time to re-certify the
photographs so they remain concealed. Hellerstein rejected the plea for more
time and indicated the "government gives the court no reason to believe the
2015 certification" would be any better than the previous certification in
2012.

On February 4, Hellerstein told the government that it appeared the
"government's conduct reflected a 'sophisticated ability to obtain a very
substantial delay'" in order "to defeat FOIA's purpose of prompt
disclosure."

The government has succeeded in keeping photographs of detainee abuse secret
for about a decade. It is likely to appeal, which means more delays of the
judicial process. It means more time passes as interrogators, officers and
officials responsible for the depicted abuse and torture do not have to
answer for their conduct.

Still, it is hard to diminish the significance of the judge finally giving
up on the government and deciding to order the government to stop the
secrecy games. Release the photographs now.

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20150323/982b4074/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 25197 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20150323/982b4074/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2357 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20150323/982b4074/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 1145 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20150323/982b4074/attachment-0001.gif>