JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal judge orders government to comply with torture FOIA requests

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered the Defense Department and other government agencies to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests made by the ACLU and other civil rights groups. Judge Hellerstein said that the government must begin handing over requested papers August 23 unless they can show that the documents cannot be found or they are subject to exemptions. The civil rights groups filed suit in June arguing that government agencies were ignoring FOIA requests for information about torture at Abu Ghraib prison and records on the treatment of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Read this press release from the ACLU on its argument before Judge Hellerstein and the original complaint [PDF]. Reuters has more on Thursday's order. JURIST's Paper Chase has background on the suit, including links to the FOIA requests.