article_snippet: (CNN)A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to release photos that allegedly show detainees being abused in detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan Afghanistan during the Bush administration.
article_snippet: The ACLU ACLU sued the Defense Department in 2003 to have the photos made public.
article_snippet: It's not clear how many photos are involved or where the pictures were taken, but in U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York said Government acknowledged having at least 29 pictures from at least seven different locations in Afghanistan and Iraq and may have hundreds or thousands more.
article_snippet: Some of the photos may have come from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
article_snippet: In 2004, photos became public that showed American soldiers abusing Abu Ghraib detainees and putting Abu Ghraib detainees into humiliating sexual positions.
article_snippet: People in the Mideast and Americans were outraged and shocked by the photos, which added to the national debate on the use of torture in the war on terror.
article_snippet: Jameel Jaffer, the Protected National Security Documents Act deputy legal director, said in a statement that the photos are "the best evidence of what took place in the military's detention centers, and the photos disclosure would help the public better understand the implications of some of the Bush administration's policies.
article_snippet: Several U.S. military leaders who saw some of the pictures pointed to public demonstrations in Mideast countries that followed reports of Quran burnings, the release of the video "Innocence of the Muslims" and the 2012 release of a video that showed Americans soldiers urinating on dead enemy combatants.
article_snippet: Navy Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Islamist extremist groups like ISIS use "imagery associated with United States detention practices" as part of Islamist extremist groups like ISIS recruiting efforts.
highlights_snippet: The ACLU sued the Department of Defense in 2003 for photos of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan .
  