January 24, 2006
Judge Orders Release of Gitmo Detainee Names
A federal judge ruled Monday that the Defense Department must release the identities of hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees to The Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff told the government to provide the information in the form of unredacted copies of transcripts and documents related to 558 military hearings in which detainees were permitted to challenge their incarcerations.
Most of the hundreds of prisoners at the U.S. prison in Cuba have been held since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks without being charged or publicly identified...
The AP filed its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the documents last year. The government then turned over the transcripts of 558 tribunals but redacted facts about each detainee's identity.
Earlier this month, the judge rejected government arguments that the detainees' names should be kept secret to protect their privacy, but gave the government one last chance to change his mind.
In response, the government argued that releasing the identities could subject the families, friends and associates of the detainees to embarrassment and retaliation.
story | Truthout
~A terrorist by any other name is still a terrorist? No the feds' are argueing that they're concerned with protecting their non-military prisoners/detainees privacy!? No they're now saying their names must be kept secret to protect the prisoners families! What will they think of next? How did these despicable people get so powerful? Reptiles in suits.
[2003 Gitmo photo\ not with story. There are no recent photos of prisoners at Guantanamo?]