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Gates: Americans should not see torture photos
In a brief filed late Friday night, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates invoked his authority to block the release of photos depicting the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. The photos are the subject of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit seeking their release. Secretary Gates was granted the authority to exempt certain images from the Freedom of Information Act as part of a new law signed by President Obama last month.
"We are disappointed that Secretary Gates has invoked new legislation to keep the torture photos secret," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. "These photos are an important part of the historical record and they are crucial to the ongoing debate about accountability. In withholding the photos, Secretary Gates has cited national security concerns, but no democracy has ever been made stronger by suppressing information about its own misconduct."
"The government's argument for suppression of the photos sets a dangerous precedent–that the government can conceal evidence of its own misconduct precisely because the evidence powerfully documents gross abuses of power and of detainees," said Alex Abdo, a legal fellow with the ACLU National Security Project. "This principal is fundamentally anti-democratic. The American public has a right to see the evidence of crimes committed in their name."