Pentagon releases photographs of prisoners subjected to torture

The U.S. Department of Defense has released 198 photographs of prisoners tortured by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2006, reports the Patria news agency.

The photographs were taken during internal military investigations and date from the period shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, when George W. Bush was president of the United States, according to the RT website.

Most of the photographs show close-ups of body parts with visible bruises and scratches, while some images are highly disturbing. The faces of the prisoners subjected to torture are concealed.

The images were not accompanied by information about the context in which they were taken, such as where the prisoners were held and under what circumstances, nor what types of torture they were subjected to.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed a lawsuit in 2004 to force the public release of the Defense Department photographs, posted them on its website last night.

The ACLU continues to work to have the court order the Pentagon to release an additional 1,800 photographs taken during investigations into prisoner torture, which the department still keeps classified.

"The released photographs illustrate only a small part of the real horror story, that is, the practice of torture carried out by the U.S. government," said Noreen Shah, director of the Security and Human Rights Program of Amnesty International USA, as reported by Tanjug.