Leading Rights Groups Call On Obama To Release Prisoner Abuse Photos

[kpete]

Source: ACLU

Leading Rights Groups Call On Obama To Release Prisoner Abuse Photos (6/1/2009)

ACLU Calls On Court To Adhere To Mandate Requiring Release Of Abuse Photos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: [phone]; [email protected]

NEW YORK – Several of the nation's leading human rights and civil liberties organizations sent a letter to President Obama today urging him to release photos depicting the abuse of detainees by U.S. personnel overseas.

The letter, signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and dozens of other groups, calls on the president to reconsider his decision to block the release of the photos. It states, "The hallmark of an open society is that we do not conceal information that reflects poorly on us – we expose it to the light of day, so that wrongdoers can be held accountable and future abuses prevented."

"The disclosure of these photographs serves as a further reminder that abuse of prisoners in U.S.-administered detention centers was systemic," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. "Some of the abuse occurred because senior civilian and military officials created a culture of impunity in which abuse was tolerated, and some of the abuse was expressly authorized. It's imperative that senior officials who condoned or authorized abuse now be held accountable for their actions."

Also today, the ACLU asked a federal appeals court to uphold its earlier ruling that the government must release the photos. On May 28, the government filed a motion asking the court to recall its mandate ordering their release, and today the ACLU filed its opposition to that motion.

Read more: http://aclu.org/safefree/torture/39710prs20090601.html

[FrenchieCat]

1. Hope they, these orgs, allow the Prez to get back from Egypt first!

Would hate all of his good work trying to repair the damage
that all parties involved know had been done during the Bush admin,
come unraveled, simply because some are in real dire need to show
pics of American Soldiers Humiliating Muslims, again!
Not to show the truth so much (since we already know of the rapes and torture and degration)
...but more because it will be another strike against the Former Administration for Americans
to gasp at.



I'll take possible ME peace over our "right" to see pictures that we already know
are degrading and shows American Soldiers doing what should have never been ordered,
but that's just me.