More Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse Photos Leaked

By
CHARLOTTE SECTOR
February 15, 2006, 11:04 AM ET
2 min read

Feb. 15, 2006 — -- More photographs of Iraqi prisoners apparently being tortured by U.S. soldiers at the American-run Abu Ghraib prison have been leaked.

The pictures first broadcast on Australian TV show more of the abuse that took place at the notorious prison on the outskirts of Baghdad in 2003. The photos caused public outrage around the world.

The U.S. government has been fighting to keep these unpublished photographs a secret and has been duking it out in a court case with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Although a U.S. judge granted the ACLU access to the photographs last year, following a freedom-of-information request filed by news organizations including ABC News, the Bush administration appealed, saying the release would fuel anti-American sentiment.

Adding Fuel to the Fire?

Australia's SBS channel aired the images anyway. The executive producer of the current affairs show that aired the photos didn't say how his station had gotten the photos, but told The Associated Press that other journalists or media probably had access to them.

These latest images were on the same CD of more than 100 pictures and videos taken in 2003 that was handed over to the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigations Division.

Prisoners are seen lying in various states of undress and compromising positions, and at least one prisoner appears to be bound and taunted by a guard dog.

The grainy, still photographs and video images also show hooded Iraqis bound to various kinds of apparatus with at times people who appear to be U.S. military guards smiling.

One of the photos shows Cpl. Charles Graner Jr., who was convicted of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, smiling as he holds a prisoner. Graner was sentenced to a 10-year prison term at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The release of the photographs comes as protests continue in several Muslim nations over cartoons of prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.

In Pakistan, more than 70,000 people have taken to the streets with at least three people dying today in clashes.