Reporters: Court must order release of Ghraib photos

[Imagevision]

A coalition of 14 media organizations and public interest groups organized by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in U.S. District Court in New York urging the release of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photos late Thursday in a release to RAW STORY.

The photographs, which have been seen by New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh, are alleged to contain photographs of U.S. servicemembers involved in raping detainees, possibly underage. The Bush Administration has successfully blocked their release, first saying they needed time to anonymize those engaged in illicit behavior, and then seeking a permanent block, arguing the photos could endanger troops and civilians overseas.

"The government has taken the position in this case that the more outrageously the behavior exhibited by American troops, the less the public has a right to know about it," said Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy Dalglish. "Such a stance turns the Freedom of Information Act inside out."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Reporters_Court_must_order_release_of_Ghr_0804.html

[Poll_Blind]

1. Excellent news! n/t

PB

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. You would have to oust the chimp, cheney and frist before they would

ever release that shit. It would be ENDLESS grief if those pictures are ever released, the scandal of all time.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. They may not have a choice.

They're becoming increasingly desperate, throwing everything but the kitchen sink to try to avoid (and delay) having to release the images. But I can't imagine the judge is going to be too pleased with the government after their last-minute stunt on the 22nd of July.

I agree, they REALLY don't want to let those pictures out. But let's see what happens Aug. 15th.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. I agree

But the public deserves to know the truth and that Bush himself has ordered for this to happen!

[Warren DeMontague]

8. The American People deserve to know what's been done in our name.

And the media groups are right. The government's "case", if you can call it that, makes a mockery of the FOIA. If the guidelines for not releasing information under the FOIA are, essentially, "you don't have to release anything you don't want to", the FOIA is pretty much meaningless.

[Stirk]

10. I'm no lawyer, but I expect that on the 15th, we'll see another

delay, with another date set for the following month.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. You may well be right, there.

But if you check the timeline -and this has been going on for two years, remember- the judge has expressed irritation with the government's, quote, "glacial pace" of dealing with the FOIA requests.. He shot down the original claims of the 6 and 7(C) exemptions, back when the images were ordered to be redacted for release. The government knows it's already on shaky legal ground by throwing in this 7(F) exemption at the last minute, because all claims for exemptions are, in cases like this, apparently supposed to be raised at the same time.

As far as I understand it, two critical issues are to be decided on the 15th, or at least looked at: whether or not the government has to release the images, and whether or not the government has to release the redacted portions of it's petitions for the 7(F) exemption, which I'm fairly certain are covered up because they contain detailed information pertaining to what, precisely, is in the videos and images.

I'm sure they'll do anything they can to avoid having any of that shit see the light of day; however, the clock is running out and they are going to have to get an answer one way or another -- eventually.

[wli]

3. how long before Bushler imprisons the lawyers working for them?

Not long is my guess. All it takes is an executive order to declare the ACLU a terrorist organization.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

4. It seems on that track already

the little I can stomach to listen to RW radio lately, the message is that the ACLU is on the "terrist" side. But, the ACLU isn't a legislature, like our Congress Critters (they don't pass laws), they aren't an executive branch like the police (they don't enforce laws), and they aren't a judical branch like courts (they don't interpret laws). They're just advocates like any lawyer or lobbyist. Is the point to chip away at the advocacy for as many as possible?

[wli]

11. they're prepping to assassinate/imprison left-leaning activists

Bushler can already declare anyone a terrorist with an executive order, so the only thing in the way is the PR campaign. And guess what? It's right there on Fox News.

I also believe the GSAVE name change was to make calling US citizens terrorists more plausible. e.g. they can say the ACLU are "violent extremists."

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Well, the ACLU has an awful lot of members.

And judging by the 14 media organizations that signed on to this amicus brief, they're also going to have to imprison all of CBS, NBC, The Tribune Group, The National Assosc. of Newspaper Editors, and Hearst Publishing, to name just a few.

[deadparrot]

7. Of course I want the photos released...

but the thought of what they show has me a little sick to my stomach.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Think about how much longer the Vietnam war would have gone on

and how many more My Lais would have taken place, or how many more little kids would have burned with napalm..

if the press had been under the kind of wartime "management" it is now.

[deadparrot]

13. They should absolutely release them...

but I swear to god, if there are children involved in these pictures, I think I might go a little ballistic.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. I don't even want to imagine what might be in there.

Hearing what Sy Hersh had to say about it was bad enough.

[deadparrot]

16. Do you have a link (to Hersh's comments)?

My morbid curiousity is getting the best of me...

[Warren DeMontague]

17. The comments were at the ACLU 2004 "America at a Crossroads" conference:

Here's the 'kos page on the whole thing:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/14/193750/666

[deadparrot]

18. thanks muchly...nt

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Here's a couple more recent links:

It's amazing how people instantaneously forgot that our elected representatives came away, ashen-faced, talking about "far worse" Abu Ghraib revelations.. Of course, the media dropped it like a hot potato. Fortunately the ACLU remained on the case.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/22/20220/6952

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/22/174448/942