Court: U.S must release torture papers

A federal judge in New York has given the U.S. government one week to turn over documents about its treatment of detainees abroad. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and campaign groups to force the Bush administration to comply with a year-old Freedom of Information Act request. The groups had demanded all unclassified records and other documents concerning the alleged torture and abuse of prisoners held by the United States at detention facilities overseas. Those facilities include Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstien gave the government just one week to provide the documents, or an explanation of why they are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. [more ] and[more ]