US to issue 'prison abuse' photos

The Pentagon is about to release "hundreds" of photographs showing the alleged¹ abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, US officials say.

以为美国官员称，五角大楼将放出“数百张”显示美军在伊拉克和阿富汗被指成虐俘的照片。

Photos purporting² to show prisoner abuse in Iraq were published in 2004

The alleged abuses by US personnel are said to relate to President George W Bush's time in office.

The photos are being made public in response to a Freedom of Information lawsuit³ filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) five years ago.

The court order had been contested by the Bush administration.

The US defence department said the Pentagon had agreed to release a "substantial" number of previously⁴ unseen photographs by May 28.

"I think it will be in the hundreds," added a Pentagon official, who spoke⁵ to reporters on condition of anonymity⁶（匿名）.

'Visual proof'

The images relate to around 60 criminal investigations⁷ of US military personnel suspected of abusing detainees（被拘留者） in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2006.

The ACLU says the photos show that the much-publicised abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq amounted to a specific policy.

"These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by US personnel was not aberrational⁸ but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," said ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh.

But a Pentagon spokesman downplayed（不予重视） allegations（断言，主张） of widespread abuse, saying it had acted swiftly to discipline some 400 personnel found to be involved in abuses.

The release of the photos will increase pressure on the Obama administration to consider prosecuting⁹ Bush-era officials for alleged complicity（串通，共谋） in torture and maltreatment（虐待） of terrorist suspects, says the BBC's North America Editor Justin Webb.

It follows the publication last week by the Obama administration of four sensitive memos¹⁰ outlining harsh interrogation（审问，问号） techniques approved for use by the CIA by the Bush government.

Rights groups have called for CIA personnel involved in any torture cases to be prosecuted¹¹, while critics say the move would endanger national security.