Alvin Hellerstein - U.S. Military Detainees

U.S. Military Detainees

On December 20, 2004, Hellerstein said he would deny a government request to delay a review of whether certain Central Intelligence Agency internal files related to Iraq should be made public. Judge Alvin Hellerstein's comments marked a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups seeking information about the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and in Iraq.

On June 3, 2005, Judge Hellerstein ordered the government to release four videos from Abu Ghraib prison and dozens of photographs from the same collection as photos that touched off the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal a year ago. The ACLU said the material would show that the abuse was "more than the actions of a few rogue soldiers."

Hellerstein said the 144 pictures and videos can be turned over in redacted form to protect the victims' identities. He gave the Army one month to release them.

The judge ordered the release after he viewed eight of the photos. They were given to the Army by a military policeman assigned to Abu Ghraib.

On September 29, 2005, in ACLU v. Department of Defense (caution: large PDF file), Hellerstein ordered the release of 87 more photographs and videotapes. In April 2006, the Department of Defense informed the court that it was withholding an additional 29 photos and two videos relating to detainee treatment. The ACLU reports that "details regarding the specific content of these additional images are unknown."

In October 2003, the ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking information on treatment of detainees in U.S. custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture. The ACLU contends that prisoner abuse is systemic.

On March 2009 Hellerstein received a three page letter about the search for transcripts and other records of the 92 tapes the CIA recorded of the use of controversial interrogation techniques from United States Attorneys in New York. They asserted that the CIA had not been able to find any records of the contents of the tapes, and they asked for a two week extension to keep looking. They also asserted that the CIA had not been able to determine the contents of the tapes by asking for descriptions from those who had viewed the tape, because they had no record of who had viewed the tapes.