2,000 Photos Depicting US Troops’ Abuse & Sexual Humiliation Of Prisoners In Iraq & Afghanistan Set For Release On Friday

If the world was shocked by the report of the Senate on how the CIA tortured suspects in the 9/11 attack, people should brace for a stronger jolt as a federal judge in the U.S. is set to authorise the release on Friday of 2,000 photos that would further place the military is a bad light.

These are images of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan being abused and sexually humiliated, reports the Telegraph.

Examples of the photos include guns pointed to prisoners who are lying down with tied hands and hoods over their heads, mocking dead bodies and simulation of sodomy by a female soldier who looks like she is performing anal penetration on a male inmate using a broom.

Those photos were taken from 2001 through 2009 and the White House, from President George Bush to President Barack Obama are against the public release of the pictures for fear that it could backlash on American citizens and soldiers in the Middle East.

Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is set to allow the publication of the images on Friday, unless the White House convinces the judge that it would be a threat to national security. However, if the judges authorises the release, faces of the soldiers would be blurred. Most of these photos were taken by the soldiers themselves.

YouTube/RT

In 2009, when Mr Obama assumed office, he agreed to its publication, but took it back on advice of Iraq that it could trigger widespread violence. Two Defence secretaries blocked its release in 2009 and 2012, but in August 2014, Hellerstein favoured the American Civil Liberties Union which filed in 2004 a lawsuit to obtain information about detainee abuse under the Freedom of Information Act.

YouTube/News (Zip News)

The union argued that "The public has a right to know what happened in these military detention facilities in the same way it has the right to know what happened in the CIA's secret prisons."

For Hellerstein to stop the release of the photos, the White House must provide evidence on each individual image why it should not be made available to the public, Daily Mail reports.

The union also seeks prosecution for the tortures, but the Justice Department had previously said there is not enough evidence to convict anyone. In spite of the Senate report released last week, the department said it would not revisit its 2012 decision to close the probe for several reasons such as passage of time, difficulty to prove beyond reasonable doubt crimes were committed and the wider latitude given to the CIA based on government communication.

Even Afghan soldiers also tortured their prisoners while American soldiers looked in the following video.

YouTube/Truthoader