Federal judge orders release of U.S. military detainee abuse photos

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled on Friday that the government must release photographs depicting abuse of detainees at sites in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Associated Press reports.

The Defense Department now has two months to consider an appeal before it must release the photos. The American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. government have been locked in a battle over whether or not to make the images public for more than a decade; the ACLU argues that the photographs' release is "manifestly important to an ongoing national debate about governmental accountability for the abuse of prisoners." The government has countered that releasing the images could incite attacks both in America and against U.S. troops abroad.

"The danger associated with release of these photographs is heightened now," due to the rise of the Islamic State militant group, Navy Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris, the vice director for operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a December court filing. ISIS "would use these photographs to further encourage its supporters and followers to attack U.S. military and government personnel."

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