http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFrien...Y-DETAINEES.xml
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US judge orders release of detainees' names
Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:11 PM ET
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge made a final ruling on Monday for the Pentagon to release the names of detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered in favor of the Associated Press, which sued the Defense Department in April, 2005, seeking the names of detainees and transcripts of military hearings held to determine whether they were properly classified as enemy combatants.
In his written ruling, the judge said the Pentagon must provide the Associated Press with unredacted copies of the transcripts by January 30, 2006.
The government had asked Rakoff to reconsider his January 4 ruling, which stopped short of ordering the release of the transcripts but rejected the government's arguments.
The government immediately asked the judge to reconsider saying the court had overlooked the privacy interests of detainees families and friends.
But the judge said the government's motion to reconsider was based on "speculative assertions" and the "government had not remotely met its burden showing that either the detainees or their families, friends, or associates have a protectable privacy interest."
A lawyer for the AP could not be immediately reached and Defense Department spokesperson Susan Idziak said she had no information on the judge's order. The judge gave the government until Wednesday to ask him to suspend his order if an appeal is to be made to the Court of Appeals.
In August, the judge ordered the Defense Department to poll the 317 detainees who had undergone enemy combatant hearings to see whether they objected to having their names published.
Of those, 63 said they wanted their names released, 17 said they didn't and the rest did not answer.
Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:11 PM ET
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge made a final ruling on Monday for the Pentagon to release the names of detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered in favor of the Associated Press, which sued the Defense Department in April, 2005, seeking the names of detainees and transcripts of military hearings held to determine whether they were properly classified as enemy combatants.
In his written ruling, the judge said the Pentagon must provide the Associated Press with unredacted copies of the transcripts by January 30, 2006.
The government had asked Rakoff to reconsider his January 4 ruling, which stopped short of ordering the release of the transcripts but rejected the government's arguments.
The government immediately asked the judge to reconsider saying the court had overlooked the privacy interests of detainees families and friends.
But the judge said the government's motion to reconsider was based on "speculative assertions" and the "government had not remotely met its burden showing that either the detainees or their families, friends, or associates have a protectable privacy interest."
A lawyer for the AP could not be immediately reached and Defense Department spokesperson Susan Idziak said she had no information on the judge's order. The judge gave the government until Wednesday to ask him to suspend his order if an appeal is to be made to the Court of Appeals.
In August, the judge ordered the Defense Department to poll the 317 detainees who had undergone enemy combatant hearings to see whether they objected to having their names published.
Of those, 63 said they wanted their names released, 17 said they didn't and the rest did not answer.