Court orders abuse photos released to ACLU

Published Wednesday, September 24, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - The United States cannot conceal pictures of abusive treatment of detainees by its soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan by saying their release might cause enemies to hurt someone, a federal appeals court said Monday in ordering the release of 21 photographs.

The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a 2006 ruling by Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordering the release of the pictures to the American Civil Liberties Union. Hellerstein had ordered identifying facial features removed from the pictures.

The color photographs were taken by service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The government has opposed the release of pictures of abuse, saying they would incite violence against U.S. troops in Iraq and provoke terrorists.

The Freedom of Information Act allows restrictions when images could reasonably be expected to endanger someone’s life or safety, but the appeals court said that exemption was meant for instances where threats were specific.

"It is plainly insufficient to claim that releasing documents could reasonably be expected to endanger some unspecified member of a group so vast as to encompass all United States troops, coalition forces and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan," the appeals court said.

In the future, it said, a government agency must identify at least one person who could be harmed with reasonable specificity if materials are made public.