In reversal, US opts to release Guantanamo files

[cal04]

After four years of resisting disclosure of information on Guantanamo detainees, the Pentagon changed course on Monday and voluntarily released about 2,600 pages of documents relating to numerous prisoners. The Pentagon generally has refused to release documents identifying the foreign terrorism suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, citing security concerns such as keeping groups like al Qaeda in the dark about who is being imprisoned.

"It is an attempt to be transparent," Bryan Whitman, a senior Pentagon spokesman, said of the document release.
The Pentagon disclosed transcripts of military hearings from the second half of 2005 reviewing detainees' detention, and submissions made by their lawyers. This comes a month after it released 5,000 pages of documents under a judge's order in a freedom of information suit brought by a news organization.

Whitman told reporters they raised "interesting points, valid points" when asking if the Pentagon, by releasing the latest documents, was giving up its own previous national security concerns. But he said that in light of losing its fight to withhold the other documents in the case filed by the Associated Press, the Pentagon "has determined that it's prudent to go ahead and release" documents not covered by the judge's previous order.

Whitman said there are 490 detainees at the Guantanamo prison, which opened in January 2002. Rights activists condemn indefinite detentions at Guantanamo and prisoners' lack of legal rights. Only 10 have been charged with a crime. "There are still vast numbers of documents that are concealed and hidden and declared to be secret and confidential," said Bill Goodman, legal director for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents numerous detainees.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-04-03T221535Z_01_N03304246_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-GUANTANAMO-DOCUMENTS.xml

[muntrv]

1. Can't hide this forever.

Maybe the Pentagon is sick of the bushies and doesn't want a fight the Supreme Court.

[damntexdem]

2. It would be great if the Pentagon was sick of running Gitmo ...

and figured that this would get them out of having to do so the quickest.

[enough]

3. My nightmare is that they will keep them forever,

because they can't have the true stories from inside being told in public -- too much evidence for war crimes prosecution.

[951-Riverside]

8. I think they kill some victims who were treated very harshly

and release the others who were treated less cruelly.

[Up2Late]

4. I wonder how much of this is important stuff, or is it just stupid crap.

...Hell, it could be a lot of black or blank pages. We'll have to wait and see.

[rodeodance]

5. Pentagon Releases New Gitmo Transcripts

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/guantanamo_detainees;_ylt=AqNNNjpYL3mz3pRpS58vLJGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Pentagon Releases New Gitmo Transcripts

By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 23 minutes ago

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - In 2,733 pages of declassified documents released Monday to The Associated Press, men accused of helping terrorist groups or Afghanistan's former Taliban regime pleaded for freedom while U.S. military officers often painstakingly tried to find holes in their stories.


The previously classified transcripts were the second batch of Guantanamo Bay detainee hearings released by the Pentagon in response to a lawsuit by the AP. They identified more of the prisoners who have been secretly held without charges for up to four years while the U.S. military determines how dangerous they may be.

A review of the documents indicated that they contain no major revelations about high-profile detainees, but offered more insight into who has been detained and why they ended up in the custody of U.S. authorities.

Most of the men said they were innocent and would pose no threat if set free.

[Malikshah]

6. Down the Memory Hole...what w/ Delay's dropping out

Their timing is just wunderbar

[951-Riverside]

7. We'll never know the truth

Also since international laws don't apply to Gitmo is it safe to say they are testing new torture techniques and medical experiments on these poor people?

[truthisfreedom]

9. "It is an attempt to be transparent," Bryan Whitman says... hey, that's

our line.

an attempt.

but we all know it's just a way to try to evade the HAGUE. puts the fear in every goddamned bushie.

[Kber]

10. This is their strategy for avoiding a supreme court decision

same as in the Padilla (sp?) case.

They don't want it on record that their actions have been declared illegal by the highest court in the land so they will avoid confontations until they get a few more seats on the court.

[Up2Late]

11. Here's a statement from Amnesty International regarding this.

<http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGUSA20060403001>

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
PUBLIC STATEMENT

April 3, 2006

Amnesty International Responds to Pentagon's Release of Additional Documents Related to Guantánamo

(Washington, DC) -- Eric Olson, Acting Director of Government Relations for Amnesty International USA, made the following statement regarding today's Pentagon's release of 2,600 pages of documents relating to detainees in Guantanamo Bay:

"Though we have not reviewed the 2,600 pages, it would be prudent to say that the Pentagon would not have released these documents if they were not innocuous or previously released in some form. Nevertheless, Amnesty International welcomes today's actions, as even the seemingly minor details in these documents may help shed light on the secrecy surrounding the detainees' cases. We do not believe the release of these documents indicates a fundamental shift by the Bush Administration towards transparency. Amnesty International continues to be very concerned about the detainees' lack of due process which violates fundamental human rights law, to say nothing of our highest values as a nation."

Contact: AIUSA Media Office, 202.544.0200 x289

<http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGUSA20060403001>

[Supersedeas]

12. 'an attempt to be transparent' -- that's rich.