Government refuses to comply with order to release Abu Ghraib photos News
Government refuses to comply with order to release Abu Ghraib photos

[JURIST] US Department of Defense [official website] lawyers have refused to comply with a federal judge's order to release pictures and videotapes [JURIST report] documenting the abuse of Abu Ghraib prisoners, alleging release "could result in harm to individuals." Judge Alvin Hellerstein had ordered the information be released as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit [complaint, PDF] filed by the American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] to investigate allegations of abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Hellerstein had previously rejected the Defense Department's contention that releasing the photos and videos would violate the Geneva Convention because the depicted prisoners would be identified and "further humiliated." The ACLU alleges that the government is withholding four videos and 87 photographs in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal [JURIST news archive]. Read the ACLU press release. The New York Times has more.