Government must release photos of abuse

NEW YORK (AP) -- The federal government must release 20 more pictures of U.S. soldiers and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan to satisfy the requests of a civil rights group seeking to expose evidence of abuse, a judge ordered Friday.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who reviewed the photographs Thursday, said identifying facial features must be removed from the pictures before they are released to the American Civil Liberties Union, which had filed a lawsuit seeking visual evidence of abuse.
The color photographs were taken by individuals serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, the judge said in a two-page order. He said the government was not required to turn over another seven photographs and he reserved judgment as to two others.
A phone message seeking comment from a government spokeswoman was not returned.
ACLU attorney Amrit Singh called the ruling "a victory for the public's right to know the full truth about the treatment of detainees held in United States custody abroad."
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