Freedom of Information
Human Rights Groups Sue for Access to Gitmo Transcripts
Posted Mar 13, 2008, 11:13 am CDT
By Molly McDonough
Claiming the Pentagon is covering up abusive treatment of detainees, human rights lawyers filed a federal lawsuit against the Bush administration Thursday seeking full transcripts of military hearings held for those alleged to be senior al-Qaida leaders.
The Miami Herald reports that several of the detainees claim they've been tortured, but that intelligence officials have censored details of their treatment.
''As the Guantanamo era enters its seventh shameful year, the government still refuses to level with the American people,'' Ben Wizner, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, is quoted saying.
Wizner, who is observing this week's military trials at Guantanamo Bay, says the ACLU filed suit after the Pentagon rejected its Freedom of Information Act requests for the transcripts from past hearings. The Herald notes that when the transcripts of the military panels were released, whole pages were shielded from public view, specifically the portions in which detainees described their treatment.
Detainees at the heart of this suit include Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the reputed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
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