Court orders release of Pentagon prisoner abuse pics

A federal appeals court on Monday ordered the Bush administration to hand over photos depicting abuse of prisoners held by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan, handing the American Civil Liberties Union a victory in an ongoing public records lawsuit filed against the Pentagon.

“This is a resounding victory for the public’s right to hold the government accountable,” ACLU staff attorney Amrit Singh, who argued before the court, said in a news release. “These photographs demonstrate that the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody abroad was not aberrational and not confined to Abu Ghraib, but the result of policies adopted by high-ranking officials. Their release is critical for bringing an end to the administration’s torture policies and for deterring further prisoner abuse.”

The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the photographs in 2003 and took the government to court after the Department of Defense failed to comply, arguing that releasing the photos would violate its obligations to prisoners under the Geneva Conventions.

It is not clear whether Monday's decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, will bring the requested photos to light immediately. An ACLU attorney tells RAW STORY the group doesn't know what administration's next steps will be, but the governemnt may request an en banc review by all 12 judges on the appeals panel or it could take its case all the way to the Supreme Court.

"It's anyone's guess as to what they're going to do," said Amrit Singh, who argued the ACLU's case before the appeals court.

The ACLU's ongoing FOIA lawsuits have compelled the release of more than 100,000 pages of documents, including memos authorizing CIA torture. More