Military judge bars release of Abu Ghraib photos

Out of sight, out of mind.

From Reuters via truthout.org:
-----
A day before the trial of Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier who held an Iraqi prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib prison, a military judge on Tuesday barred the release of photos which have already been published around the world.

At a final pre-trial hearing, Judge Col. James Pohl also expressed skepticism about the central defense argument that England, 22, was overly compliant toward authority figures and could not always make reasoned judgments for herself.

"You are painting a picture of a woman who cannot think for herself in almost all circumstances," Pohl told lead defense lawyer Capt. Jonathan Crisp.

"She does have to look to the authority figures around her and glean what to do," said Crisp.

England is pictured in some of the most notorious Abu Ghraib photographs. In one image, she points and jeers at the genitals of a naked prisoner; in another, she poses with the father of her baby, Charles Graner, in front of a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners.

The publication of the photos a year and a half ago caused global outrage and was a major setback to the Bush administration, which had angered many nations by declaring war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Because the Abu Ghraib photos are so widely known, the order barring their release will have a limited impact. They will not be shown to the public attending the trial, but rather will be shown on computer screens to the officers on the jury.

"They'll be sealed until an appellate court says they won't be sealed," said Capt. Cullen Sheppard, a spokesman for the prosecution. "Many of the photos that are protected are photos that you have seen."

Some photos have not been made public. For example, one charge since dropped against England alleged she had been photographed engaging in fellatio with Graner, the abuse ringleader who is serving a ten-year prison sentence and who has since married a woman who pled guilty in the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Pohl's order could however affect what is released under a 2003 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain information on the treatment of U.S.-held detainees.
-----
[Read more.]