ACLU Says U.S. Blocking Photo Release

The American Civil Liberties Union accused the government Friday of putting a legal roadblock in the way of its bid to allow the public to see photographs and videos stemming from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

The ACLU said sealed documents the government filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan would be used to argue that dozens of photographs could not be released because they would result in a safety threat to individuals.

“We obviously express skepticism about the latest move on the government’s part to withhold information the public is clearly entitled to,” said Amrit Singh, an ACLU staff lawyer.

The government raised its new challenge to releasing pictures and videos from Abu Ghraib prison on the same day it was supposed to show the exhibits to a judge presiding over the case, the ACLU said.

Sean H. Lane, the government lawyer handling the case, referred questions to Herbert Haddad, a spokesman for U.S. Atty. David N. Kelley.

Haddad said the government did file papers in the case under seal, and said he could not discuss their contents.

Singh said the delay would be challenged in court by the ACLU, which filed a lawsuit in October 2003 seeking information on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture. The ACLU contends that prisoner abuse is systemic.

Lane has argued that releasing pictures, even in redacted form, would violate Geneva Convention rules on prisoner treatment by subjecting detainees to additional humiliation or embarrassment.