Written media accounts claim that the banned images include one of a naked prisoner hanging upside down from a metal bunk bed and one of another naked man smeared in excrement, guarded by a menacing looking American soldier. Still another picture purportedly shows a prisoner wearing his underwear while being handcuffed to the window frame of his cell, and a group of photos reveal American 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. There also are photos that supposedly depict U.S. soldiers kicking and punching prisoners who are blindfolded.

 

Some of the banned photos are from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison incident that occurred several years ago, while others were taken at different locations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The American Civil Liberties Union has been trying to gain access to the photographs for nearly six years.

 

Last September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ordered the photographs released. The Bush administration challenged the ruling, but that appeal was not heard until March, when the court denied the petition. In light of the court defeat, the Obama administration had agreed in April to release the photos because Justice Department lawyers did not believe they could convince the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. But, according to the Obama administration, when the president’s military advisors warned of the possible backlash that publication of the photos might produce for soldiers in war zones, Obama changed his mind.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Concern at 'Prisoner Abuse' Photographs as Barack Obama Prepares to Block Publication (by Alex Spillius, Telegraph)

Documents Describe Prisoner Abuse Photos Obama is Withholding (by Jason Leopold, Public Record)

More Snaps from Abu Ghraib (Sydney Morning Herald)