|
Cryptome DVDs are offered by Cryptome. Donate $25 for two DVDs of the Cryptome 12-years collection of 46,000 files from June 1996 to June 2008 (~6.7 GB). Click Paypal or mail check/MO made out to John Young, 251 West 89th Street, New York, NY 10024. The collection includes all files of cryptome.org, jya.com, cartome.org, eyeball-series.org and iraq-kill-maim.org, and 23,000 (updated) pages of counter-intelligence dossiers declassified by the US Army Information and Security Command, dating from 1945 to 1985.The DVDs will be sent anywhere worldwide without extra cost. | |||
29 December 2004. Add New York Times report.
When Mr. Hettena first showed the photos to the Navy, it began its own investigation. The Navy found that some of the photographs were not exactly what they seemed. For example, the gun pointing at a prisoner had a light on the end of it and was apparently being used to illuminate a prisoner's face, said Cmdr. Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, Calif.Other photographs were not as easily explained, Commander Bender said.
"The picture with the guy grinning ear to ear," he said, referring to a shot of a Seals member posing between two hooded prisoners. "These kind of pictures are supposed to be taken strictly for administration and intelligence purposes."
A follow-up investigation is about halfway done, Commander Bender said. Jeffrey D. Neuburger, a lawyer specializing in technology and communications issues, said that "the photos are clearly newsworthy, and as a result, the First Amendment would protect their use" by The A.P.
1,369 US Military Dead During Iraq War: http://cryptome.org/mil-dead-iqw.htm
See also DoD tally: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
Thanks to D.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-12-28-seals-lawsuit_x.htm
December 28, 2004
Six Navy SEALs sue AP over Iraq prisoner photos
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six members of a Navy special forces unit and two Navy wives sued The Associated Press on Tuesday, saying the news agency endangered the servicemen's lives and invaded their privacy by publishing photos showing the men interacting with Iraqi prisoners.
The lawsuit says the agency erred by not obscuring the identity of the six SEALs in photos that accompanied a story distributed worldwide earlier this month, contending publication of the photos jeopardizes future covert operations and harms the servicemen's careers.
"There was no need for the AP to publish the faces of the SEALs," James W. Huston, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a press release.
"In fact, the SEALs showed more respect for the insurgents and terrorists that they were apprehending by obscuring their faces than the AP did for the Navy SEALs who were in Iraq risking their lives."
The story was written by San Diego reporter Seth Hettena, who is named as a defendant. The story did not name the Navy members or the wife who posted the photos on what she believed was a private Web site.
"We believe that none of the claims have any solid basis in the law as we understand it," said Dave Tomlin, AP's assistant general counsel. "We intend to defend ourselves and our reporter vigorously and, we expect, successfully."
The lawsuit, filed in San Diego County Superior Court, states that Hettena took the photos from a Navy wife's "personal digital photo album without notice or permission." It says that the woman, identified only as "Jane Doe," believed the nearly 1,800 photos she posted on the Internet site were protected from access by unauthorized users and required a password to view.
The initial AP story, transmitted Dec. 3, noted that the photos were found on the commercial photo-sharing Web site Smugmug.com using the search engine Google, and were not password-protected until after the reporter purchased copies online and began inquiries.
The story said the photos appear to show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees and also what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. It noted that the Navy had launched a formal investigation into the photographs after being shown them by an AP reporter, adding that the photos did not necessarily depict any illegal activities.
The AP later reported that the Navy's preliminary findings showed most of the 15 photos transmitted by the agency were taken for legitimate intelligence-gathering purposes and showed commandos using approved procedures.
The AP noted that the Navy has expanded its investigation into additional photos, however, a process that could take up to a month and result in disciplinary action.
The lawsuit asks for unspecified damages, including punitive damages, and a preliminary injunction barring the AP from further use of the photos and requiring the agency to protect the SEALs' identities.
It contends that at least two wives of the SEALs pictured have received daily harassing and threatening phone calls since the photos were published, and alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Taylor Clark, a spokesman for Naval Special Warfare Command, declined comment on the suit, calling it a private matter.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Photos initially published 3 December 2004: http://cryptome.org/ik14-2/iraq-kill14.htm
Associated Press report on Navy SEAL photos:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&e=5&u=/ap/seals_prisoner_photos
Associated Press photos and captions.
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a subject constrained by U.S. military personnel. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner having his picture taken at gunpoint. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty apparently shows a U.S. military member posing with hooded prisoners in a photo date stamped May 2003. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Photos that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees are seen on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into the photographs. Date stamps on some photos suggest they were made in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show prisoners in the back of a truck with a foot atop one of the detainees. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner being held at gunpoint. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner being held at gunpoint. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a bloodied prisoner. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner being restrained on a floor. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner being held at gunpoint. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| SEALS PRISONER PHOTOS |
|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a member of the U.S. military in a truck with what appear to be Iraqi prisoners. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
New York Times, 29 December 2004
6 Members of Elite Navy Force Sue News Agency Over Photos
By TRACIE ROZHON
Six members of the Navy Seals and two of their wives sued The Associated Press and one of its reporters yesterday for distributing photos of the Seals that apparently show them treating Iraqi prisoners harshly.
One wife had put the photos on what she believed was a password-protected Web site, a lawyer for the group said. The suit, filed in Superior Court in San Diego, charges The A.P. with invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It does not name the plaintiffs.
An Associated Press article on Dec. 3 about the photos said they had date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003 - months before the photographs taken at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that led to investigations of abuse of detainees.
In one photo published by The A.P., a gun is pointed at the head of a man who appears to be a prisoner; another shows a man in white boxer shorts, with what looks like blood dripping down his chest, his head in a black hood. In another, a grinning man in uniform is apparently sitting on a prisoner. The faces of most of the prisoners are obscured, but those of their captors are not.
James W. Huston, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, said yesterday that since the photographs were published, the men's lives had been put in danger and their wives had received threatening calls. Mr. Huston said the photos had appeared in Arab news media and on anti-American billboards in Cuba.
The lawsuit demands that The A.P. obscure the faces of the Seals members if the photos are published again. Even if The A.P. agreed to shield the faces, Mr. Huston said, he would still pursue damages.
Mr. Huston said he did not know how The A.P.'s reporter got the photographs. "Obviously they were not as safe as she believed them to be," he said of the Navy wife, adding that she was not available for comment. The wife had put the photographs on Web the site as a kind of backup storage, her lawyer said, "and planned to go back and organize them or delete them later."
The A.P. reporter, Seth Hettena, discovered the photos on a Web site called Smugmug.com while researching another news story on alleged brutality by members of the Seals, according to an A.P. article on the suit. The site lets members display photos in password-protected or public galleries.
Reached at The A.P.'s San Diego bureau, Mr. Hettena said he could not comment on the suit or the photos. Dave Tomlin, a lawyer representing The A.P. and Mr. Hettena, said, "We believe that the use of the photographs and the manner they were obtained were entirely lawful and proper."
When Mr. Hettena first showed the photos to the Navy, it began its own investigation. The Navy found that some of the photographs were not exactly what they seemed. For example, the gun pointing at a prisoner had a light on the end of it and was apparently being used to illuminate a prisoner's face, said Cmdr. Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, Calif.
Other photographs were not as easily explained, Commander Bender said.
"The picture with the guy grinning ear to ear," he said, referring to a shot of a Seals member posing between two hooded prisoners. "These kind of pictures are supposed to be taken strictly for administration and intelligence purposes."
A follow-up investigation is about halfway done, Commander Bender said. Jeffrey D. Neuburger, a lawyer specializing in technology and communications issues, said that "the photos are clearly newsworthy, and as a result, the First Amendment would protect their use" by The A.P.