[JURIST] The Associated Press [media website] filed a lawsuit Monday against the US Department of Defense [official website] seeking the release of records and identities of the more than 750 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] since 2001, some 260 of which have been released. In the suit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website], AP argued that there was a high public interest in how the US has handled detainees at the military prison. AP alleged that the Defense Department failed to respond to a Jan. 18 Freedom of Information Act [text] request for the information it sought.

Earlier this month, responding to an order [JURIST report] by US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff [official profile], the Defense Department released [JURIST report] uncensored transcripts [PDF files] of hearings for 317 detainees before Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD materials] at Guantanamo. The Department has said that no transcripts exist for another 241 detainees who refused to appear before the tribunal. Judge Rakoff has not ruled on whether transcripts from a second round of hearings must be released. AP has more.