BushCo Torture
2009-05-15 21:59:39 UTC
New 'Prisoner Abuse' Photographs Emerge Despite US Bid to Block Publication
Graphic photographs of alleged prisoner abuse, thought to be among up to
2,000 images Barack Obama is trying to prevent from being released, emerged
yesterday.
by Alex Spillius in Washington
The shocking images of inmates in Iraq and Afghanistan were published just a
day after the US president announced plans for a legal battle stop them ever
being seen.
They risked provoking renewed hostility in the Middle East as Mr Obama
attempts to build bridges with the Islamic world.
He is scheduled to make a major speech in Cairo on June 4 when he will
launch his version of a plan to bring peace between the Israelis and the
Palestinians.
One picture showed a prisoner hung up upside down while another showed a
naked man smeared in excrement standing in a corridor with a guard standing
menacingly in front of him. Another prisoner is handcuffed to the window
frame of his cell with underpants pulled over his head.
Others yet to be released reportedly show military guards threatening to
sexually assault a detainee with a broomstick and hooded prisoners on
transport planes with Playboy magazines opened to pictures of nude women on
their laps.
The images emerged from Australia yesterday where they were originally
obtained by the channel SBS in 2006 in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal.
They were not distributed around the world at the time but are now believed
to be among those the president is trying to block.
Mr Obama previously committed to allowing thousands of images to be
published but changed his mind after senior generals warned that their
publication could place US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in greater
danger.
The president's change of heart brought bitter criticism from the left
wingers and the American Civil Liberties Union, which had brought a freedom
of information case against the US government applying to see the pictures.
Pledging to fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court, the ACLU
accused him of betraying his principles of open government and "complicity
in covering up" the "commission of torture by the Bush administration".
"It is true that these photos would be disturbing. The day we are no longer
disturbed by such repugnant acts would be a sad one," said Anthony Romero,
executive director.
"Only by looking squarely in the mirror, acknowledging the crimes of the
past and achieving accountability can we move forward and ensure that these
atrocities are not repeated."
The White House legal team was yesterday preparing for a June 9 deadline to
present its case that it would be against the interests of national security
to make the pictures public.
The controversy came as it was revealed that the administration is
considering detaining terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay indefinitely and
without trial on US soil.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, said after meeting White House lawyers
that terror suspects deemed too dangerous to release could be jailed
permanently by a new national security court.
Other options include revising the Bush administration's military
commissions for senior al-Qaeda suspects that have been criticised for
relying too heavily on hearsay and uncontestable intelligence information.
When he took office on Jan 20 Mr Obama ordered that the prison at a US naval
base on Cuba be closed within a year.
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
More photos: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=11676
Copy pictures on post cards & mail to flag waving 'christians'or to Crime
Stoppers and Texas DA.
Graphic photographs of alleged prisoner abuse, thought to be among up to
2,000 images Barack Obama is trying to prevent from being released, emerged
yesterday.
by Alex Spillius in Washington
The shocking images of inmates in Iraq and Afghanistan were published just a
day after the US president announced plans for a legal battle stop them ever
being seen.
They risked provoking renewed hostility in the Middle East as Mr Obama
attempts to build bridges with the Islamic world.
He is scheduled to make a major speech in Cairo on June 4 when he will
launch his version of a plan to bring peace between the Israelis and the
Palestinians.
One picture showed a prisoner hung up upside down while another showed a
naked man smeared in excrement standing in a corridor with a guard standing
menacingly in front of him. Another prisoner is handcuffed to the window
frame of his cell with underpants pulled over his head.
Others yet to be released reportedly show military guards threatening to
sexually assault a detainee with a broomstick and hooded prisoners on
transport planes with Playboy magazines opened to pictures of nude women on
their laps.
The images emerged from Australia yesterday where they were originally
obtained by the channel SBS in 2006 in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal.
They were not distributed around the world at the time but are now believed
to be among those the president is trying to block.
Mr Obama previously committed to allowing thousands of images to be
published but changed his mind after senior generals warned that their
publication could place US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in greater
danger.
The president's change of heart brought bitter criticism from the left
wingers and the American Civil Liberties Union, which had brought a freedom
of information case against the US government applying to see the pictures.
Pledging to fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court, the ACLU
accused him of betraying his principles of open government and "complicity
in covering up" the "commission of torture by the Bush administration".
"It is true that these photos would be disturbing. The day we are no longer
disturbed by such repugnant acts would be a sad one," said Anthony Romero,
executive director.
"Only by looking squarely in the mirror, acknowledging the crimes of the
past and achieving accountability can we move forward and ensure that these
atrocities are not repeated."
The White House legal team was yesterday preparing for a June 9 deadline to
present its case that it would be against the interests of national security
to make the pictures public.
The controversy came as it was revealed that the administration is
considering detaining terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay indefinitely and
without trial on US soil.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, said after meeting White House lawyers
that terror suspects deemed too dangerous to release could be jailed
permanently by a new national security court.
Other options include revising the Bush administration's military
commissions for senior al-Qaeda suspects that have been criticised for
relying too heavily on hearsay and uncontestable intelligence information.
When he took office on Jan 20 Mr Obama ordered that the prison at a US naval
base on Cuba be closed within a year.
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2009
More photos: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=11676
Copy pictures on post cards & mail to flag waving 'christians'or to Crime
Stoppers and Texas DA.