A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. government had properly classified top secret more than 50 images of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden taken after his death, and that the government did not need to release them.
The unanimous ruling by three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a request for the images by a conservative nonprofit watchdog group.
Judicial Watch sued for photographs and video from the May 2011 raid in which U.S. special forces killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after more than a decade of searching.
The organization’s lawsuit relied on the Freedom of Information Act, a 1966 law that guarantees public access to some government documents.
In an unsigned opinion, the appeals court accepted an assertion from President Barack Obama’s administration that the images are so potent that releasing them could cause riots that would put Americans abroad at risk.
“It is undisputed that the government is withholding the images not to shield wrongdoing or avoid embarrassment, but rather to prevent the killing of Americans and violence against American interests,” the opinion said.
The court ruled that the risk of violence justifies the decision to classify the images top secret, and that the CIA may withhold the images under an exception to the Freedom of Information Act for documents that are classified.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement that the ruling “would allow terrorists to dictate our laws.” Fitton said his lawyers are considering what to do next. The group could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department, which represents the Obama administration in court, had no immediate comment.
The images show a dead bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan, the transportation of his body to a U.S. ship and his burial at sea, the government has said.
Some of the photographs were taken so the CIA could conduct facial recognition analysis to confirm the body’s identity, according to court papers.
(Reuters)
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2 Responses
This is a very big mistake. As long as the “photo’s” are not seen by the public, there will continue to be conspiracy theories. This lame excuse the Government keeps regurgitating, that it would cause an uproar in the “peaceful” Muslem communities is just another lie! They tried that lie in the Bengazi scandal cover up! The TERRORIST attack in Bengazi only happened because, us, evil “Americans”, produced, collectively, an Anti Muslem film that no one saw! When the loving Muslems show pictures/video’s of the torturing & slaughtering of American citizens, that’s ok? Hussain has got to go!
No. 1: The government – federal, state and local – should not be in the business of quelling conspiracy theories. There are some good reasons not to release these photos, and no good reasons to release them. And, of course, most conspiracy theories and theorists persist in the face of contradictory evidence, and so any attempt by the government to stop them will have little effect, or may even have the effect of encouraging them.
Can someone explain what is to be learned from these photos?