( CNN ) -- CIA secret interrogation methods -- including detention and harsh questioning of suspected terrorists -- remain off limits to public release , a federal appeals court ruled Monday . The agency was sued eight years ago to provide details of certain communications describing the use of waterboarding and other direct intelligence-gathering methods of foreign terror suspects . A three-judge panel from the 2nd U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals ruled `` intelligence methods '' are not subject to a Freedom of Information Act request from the lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union . `` We give substantial weight to the government 's declarations , which establish that disclosing the redacted portions of the ( secret memos ) would reveal the existence and scope of a highly classified , active intelligence activity , '' said the judges . The CIA has admitted as part of the lawsuit it destroyed videotaped interrogations of `` high-value '' terror suspects Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri . The alleged members of the al Qaeda terror network are being held overseas , including most recently at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba . The ACLU wanted transcripts of those tapes and a Zubaydah photograph , written summaries , or other information relating to the so-called `` waterboarding '' of suspected terrorists in U.S. custody . Some civil liberties groups have equated the methods to torture , and have argued that government and military officials should be held publicly accountable . `` Public disclosure of certain government records may not always be in the public interest , '' Judge Richard Wesley wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel . He said it was both `` logical and plausible '' for the CIA to control how it conducts intelligence operations , and how it works with foreign intelligence liaison partners . The judges also dismissed a lower federal court order to release two classified memos from White House attorneys , which discuss the legality of `` enhanced interrogation techniques . '' The issue was whether the material was classified since the memos reportedly dealt not with specific methods , only their legality . The court said it was not its job to conduct a `` complex inquiry '' into government discussions of its intelligence-gathering . President Barack Obama has since disavowed the future use of waterboarding , where simulated drowning of immobile prisoners was conducted . The ACLU , along with the Center for Constitutional Rights , Physicians for Human Rights and Veterans for Peace -- among other groups suing -- now have the option of asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene . The justices earlier Monday agreed to hear a case from the ACLU over whether a coalition of Americans can go to court and challenge a federal law allowing broad electronic surveillance of suspected foreign terrorists and spies . The CIA interrogation cases are ACLU v. Department of Justice ( 10-4289 , 10-4290 , 10-4647 , 10-4668 ) .
The ACLU wanted details of CIA intelligence-gathering methods . A federal appeals court says such details remain off limits to public release . Details would reveal `` highly classified , active intelligence activity , '' the judges said . " Comment: It's a bit like asking why you can't see your own reflection in a mirror?