Release of detainee abuse photos blocked

US defence secretary Robert Gates has blocked the release of 44 pictures of foreign detainees abused by their captors, saying it would endanger American soldiers.

The Obama administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Friday night saying Mr Gates had invoked new powers blocking the release of the photos.

The American Civil Liberties Union had sued for the release of 21 colour photographs showing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq being abused by Americans.

Federal courts had rejected the government’s arguments to block their release, so Congress gave Mr Gates new powers to keep them private under a law signed by President Barack Obama last month.

Mr Obama initially indicated he would not fight the release of the photographs, but he reversed course in May, saying he was persuaded that disclosure could further incite violence in Afghanistan and Iraq and endanger US troops there.

The photographs at issue were taken by service members in Iraq and Afghanistan and were part of criminal investigations of alleged abuse. Some pictures show “soldiers pointing pistols or rifles at the heads of hooded and handcuffed detainees”, solicitor general Elena Kagan said in an appeal to the high court.

In one, “a soldier holds a broom as if ’sticking its end into the rectum of a restrained detainee’,” Ms Kagan said, quoting from an investigation report prepared by the Pentagon.

Two investigations led to criminal charges and convictions, she said.