ACLU WINS: Pentagon concedes Abu Ghraib photo, video case

[kpete]

ACLU: Pentagon concedes Abu Ghraib photo, video case

RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday March 28, 2006

The American Civil Liberties Union today announced that the Department of Defense has withdrawn its appeal of a district court order compelling it to turn over images depicting detainee abuse by U.S. forces at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The Defense Department will identify which public images come from the contested trove and release any additional images in its possession.

The group's release, issued to RAW STORY, follows.


"A picture is worth a thousand words, but we have yet to hear one word of acknowledgment from Secretary Rumsfeld and other top officials that their policies and actions were responsible for the torture and abuse seen in these notorious photos," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "The ACLU will press on with its lawsuit to hold high-level officials accountable for creating policies that resulted in the abuse of detainees. If the American government wants to restore faith in our commitment to human rights, we must hold high-ranking officials accountable for their actions."

Today's developments mean that an earlier district court decision concerning the photographs will stand. That decision, written by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, held that "Publication of the photographs is central to the purposes of FOIA because they initiate debate, not only about the improper and unlawful conduct of American soldiers, 'rogue' soldiers, as they have been characterized, but also about other important questions as well -- for example, the command structure whose failures in exercising supervision may make them culpable along with the soldiers who were court-martialed for perpetrating the wrongs."

.............

The government has not officially informed the ACLU as to how many images in its possession have not been published on Salon.com, but they are believed to be few in number. The ACLU has not seen these images

more at:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/ACLU_Pentagon_concedes_Abu_Ghraib_photo_0328.html

[uppityperson]

1. go ACLU. good.

[jsamuel]

2. finally, keep plugging away!

[rsmith6621]

3. The Pentagon Must have Finished......

Their nessasary shredding:sarcasm:

[hvn_nbr_2]

12. They probably won't shred. They'll just "redact" n/t

[babylonsister]

4. Wow. After all this time, the admin gives up? Doesn't sound like

them. I wonder what the ACLU has in mind as far as exposing them? I think they should be out there and those involved and responsible should be punished, but these images could make a horrible situation worse. :-(

[hootinholler]

13. It's probably to limit it to what Salon has...

Release a few more and cover up the rest puts the whole issue to bed.

-Hoot

[Maddy McCall]

5. OR YOU CAN SUPPORT THE ACLU BY VISITING THEIR WEBSITE INSTEAD.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/24785prs20060328.html

[FormerDittoHead]

6. I think We The People should ask themselves why this was necessary...

Shouldn't the Pentagon have done the right thing in the first place? WHOSE interests do they represent when the LAW disagrees with their position?

[Disturbed]

8. They gave it up because most of the material is already...

in the public domain. They stalled off long enough. Also, they now know it doesn't matter because most of the American public don't care about this issue. The Bush Regime and the "Liberal Media" have nuetered this topic. It's old news and the "few bad apples" have been punished.

[FormerDittoHead]

11. My point was to ask WHOSE government is it THEY work for?

I grant you your point about them cushioning these pictures, etc., but the point is that we should be troubled to realize "The Pentagon" has some agenda besides obeying the (spirit of the) law and the respecting the rights of the American People to know what they're doing.

We're only PAYING for this whole dog and pony show...

[Gregorian]

10. ^ Exactly.

I hang out here because I love to hear things like that. Thanks.

[babylonsister]

14. Does this mal-administration concern themselves with doing

the right thing ever? They're making up the rules as they go along.

[stillcool]

7. Wow....Score one for the good guys....

it's been so long since I've had to take in anything resembling 'good-news'... it must be a trick.

[ooglymoogly]

9. how many times has the aclu covered our backs?

protecting our great constitution...countless...they are saints...if we keep chipping away at this stinking pile of shit that is b*shco, maybe someday we can flush whats left down the toilet and keep on disinfecting the place for a few more years after that, maybe then the stench if not the damage will go away.

[MissWaverly]

15. I just saw a picture of a naked prisoner with a bloody back

on another web site, he was hooded, hey, bill & sean, here's your chance to jump in and say
it was no worse than a pep rally, hey guys! Come on, you said all along that there
was no torture. "and answer, there came none."

[Brazenly Liberal]

16. I love it when GOPbots shoot themselves in the foot.

When the original sampling of Abu Ghraib photos came out, the administration was urged to put them all out and they refused. If they had done so, the outrage over them would have peaked and then settled into the slow simmer it's been. But no, contrary to everything anyone could possibly learn from experience, these mooks actually believed they could keep the bulk of the photos from ever seeing daylight. Reality asserted itself, the additional photos came out and they have to see this ugly issue peak again. The incompetent fools were the agents of their own karma.