Federal Judge Orders U.S. Government to Turn Over Records of All War Detainees

According to One World US, "a U.S. federal judge has given the government 30 days to turn over or identify all documents relating to the treatment of detainees held by the United States at military bases and other detention facilities overseas, including at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq."

It will be appealed, of course.

The Freedom of Information Act has been largely ignored by this admistration. Rights groups trying to obtain records for almost a year have been put off. Judge Alvin Hellerstein stated that "merely raising national security concerns cannot justify unlimited delays" in complying with the requests for information that may be related to instances of abuse of our democratic system. Appeals from the ACLU, the American Bar Association, Human Rights First, and others have been ignored, despite leaks of top-level memos and reports of torture and homocides. Even retired military officers want to see an independent investigation. After the photos and testimonies that we have seen and read, it is amazing that an investigation along the lines of the 911 commission hasn’t already started. It is simply not enough for the military to investigate itself, especially given the proclivities of the state department for imperialistic power.

Let’s hope that more of what is really going on to erode our values and country is made transparent before the election. It is disheartening to see this power cartel taking over our democracy. On bad days, I begin to think that if this country is so stupid as to let it continue, we deserve what we get. But I am still cheering for the American people to wake up in time.