Federal Appeals Court Considers Release Of Postmortem Osama Bin Laden Photos

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Federal appeals court considers release of postmortem Osama bin Laden photos

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-appeals-court-considers-release-of-postmortem-osama-bin-laden-photos/2013/01/09/d7882ab0-5aa9-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html

By Ann E. Marimow, Published: January 9

The dramatic raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound plays out on the big screen this month in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” but the government’s actual photos of the deceased al-Qaeda leader and his burial remain classified.

A federal appeals court on Thursday will consider whether the public has a right to view postmortem images of bin Laden. The lawsuit, filed by a conservative-leaning watchdog group, seeks the release of 52 photos that followed the operation in May 2011.

The government argues, and a lower court judge agreed, that the photos must be kept secret in the interest of national security. Some defense and intelligence officials express concern in court documents that the release of the images would incite violence against Americans.

In seeking to reverse the lower court ruling, the group Judicial Watch argues that the exemption the government cites to the Freedom of Information Act is too vague. The group asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to ensure that the exceptions “do not become sweeping exemptions.”

President Obama announced the successful raid on bin Laden’s compound last May and released a description of his burial in the North Arabian Sea. Obama said at the time that photos were taken and that “facial analysis” was used to confirm bin Laden’s identity.

Obama explained in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” the administration’s rationale for not releasing the photos.

“It’s important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool,” he said. “That’s not who we are. We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.”

Courts have generally been loath to second-guess the executive branch when it comes to classified information that has the potential to affect national security, according to lawyers who handle cases involving the disclosure of government documents.

In April, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ruled that the images would remain secret. He wrote that he found the explanations from national security officials of the possible risk of “grave harm to our future national security is more than mere speculation. While al Qaeda may not need a reason to attack us, that does not mean no risk inheres in giving it further cause to do so.”

Boasberg acknowledged that many members of the public might want to see photos related to such a significant event. But, he said, “it is not this Court’s decision to make. . . . The CIA’s explanation of the threat to our national security passes muster.”

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Court considers demand that U.S. release photos of bin Laden’s body

http://myfox8.com/2013/01/10/court-considers-demand-that-u-s-release-photos-of-bin-ladens-body/

Posted on: 7:39 pm, January 10, 2013, by Ali Scotti

Washington (CNN) — A federal appeals court panel is considering whether photos of Osama bin Laden’s body should be released.

Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, argued Thursday before a three-judge panel that the Freedom of Information Act requires the government to release the pictures or better explain why the release of specific images would damage national security.

The judges, with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, did not say how soon they may rule.

Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha said government records indicate there are 52 images of bin Laden taken just after his death or when his body was aboard the USS Carl Vinson and then buried at sea. During the court hearing, Bekesha argued the shots of the burial at sea could be released without fear of harming national security, but he did not make that claim about the more gruesome images taken just after bin Laden was shot at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The government has said that there are sensitivities concerning the death of bin Laden and that releasing the pictures could lead to violence against Americans.

“This was the mastermind of 9/11,” Bekesha said. “This was the most wanted terrorist in the world.”

The government has said bin Laden’s body was cleaned in accordance with Islamic practices, then wrapped respectfully and buried at sea, he said. Bekesha said the government has not said how releasing those images would be harmful.

The judges took issue with that and said government officials had provided information about previous incidents that led to violence in the Arab world or provided terrorists with fuel for propaganda. Among the examples were the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and reports that Americans had desecrated Qurans.

“Why should we not defer to that?” asked Judge Merrick Garland, who was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton. “We are told there is a risk … that Americans could die if the pictures are released.”

Robert Loeb, arguing for the government, noted that al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri made statements that bin Laden’s body was not treated in accordance with Muslim traditions in an effort to “inflame tensions.”

In a statement released before the hearing, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said that “President Obama is asking the courts to rewrite (the Freedom of Information Act) to allow his administration to withhold documents simply because their disclosure may cause controversy.”

Osama bin Laden was killed in a May 2011 raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Debates over releasing the photos of the al Qaeda leader have raged in some quarters ever since the May 2011 raid in Pakistan that left him dead.

The White House said that despite pressure from some lawmakers and dissent within the ranks of the president’s top advisers, Obama decided not to release them.

“It is not in our national security interest … to allow these images to become icons to rally opinion against the United States,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said at the time.

Judicial Watch asked the Defense Department to comply with a Freedom of Information request for material on the raid, including photos of the September 11 instigator lying dead on the third floor of his hideout.

A federal judge ruled in April 2012 that there were legitimate national security interests to deny disclosure.

“A picture may be worth a thousand words. And perhaps moving pictures bear an even higher value,” Judge James Boasberg said. “Yet, in this case, verbal descriptions of the death and burial of Osama bin Laden will have to suffice.”

At the Thursday hearing, Bekesha raised questions about whether the images were properly classified or if that action was taken only in the face of the FOIA request to release them.

“There’s no doubt the classification was done beforehand,” Loeb said.

Judicial Watch says its appeal makes clear that the group is not seeking information about equipment or techniques used in the raid.

The government has “failed to provide any evidence that all 52 images, including those depicting bin Laden’s burial at sea, pertain to ‘foreign activities of the United States,’ ” the appeal argues. “Defendants also have failed to provide any evidence that images depicting the burial at sea actually pertain to ‘intelligence activities.’

“Nor have they demonstrated that the release of images of a somber, dignified burial at sea reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable or describable exceptionally grave damage to national security.”

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Osama Bin Laden Death Photos Not Getting the CIA’s Zero Dark Thirty Treatment

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/osama-bin-laden-death-photos-zero-dark-thirty.html

By Joe Coscarelli

The graphic photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body remain secret even as a film depicting the raid that killed him, made with the assistance of the CIA, powers through awards season. Judges hearing the Freedom of Information Act appeal by conservative group Judicial Watch for release of the photos seem prepared to keep it that way: "They're telling us it's a risk … that Americans will die if we release these documents," said Judge Merrick Garland yesterday, adding that "when the government tells us this is likely to lead to death, shouldn't we defer to that [even] more than when they say it will result in the release of secret information?"

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," said President Obama in his original decision, adding that "there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Almost anything associated with him is necessarily of concern," said Judge Judith Rogers, who is also hearing the case. McClatchy reports, "The explicit fears raised by two members of a three-judge appellate panel during oral argument provided a strong indication, though no guarantee, that the court will side with the Obama administration in keeping the bin Laden photos secret."

Rogers also mentioned "the concern that these images could be used as propaganda," an argument that gets more complicated considering the conversation swirling around the Oscar-nominated Zero Dark Thirty. While both the Pentagon and the CIA have refused to turn over anything in response to FOIA requests — with the CIA not even responding to the AP's May 2011 filing — a separate Judicial Watch report revealed the government access provided to filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal.

"I can't tell you how excited we all are … about the project," the CIA's public affairs at the time wrote to the screenwriters. "It's been a real pleasure to help facilitate things." One CIA official said the agency wanted to "get behind the winning horse," the "first and biggest" film about the raid. The movie has since been called propaganda in its own right, criticized for distorting history with regards to torture, and dubbed "one of the most successful recruitment vehicles [for the CIA] of all time."

While the government was prepared to push along the Hollywood account, which the CIA cautioned "departs from reality," a Justice Department attorney argued yesterday, "Release of these materials could reasonably be expected to harm national security." The actual pictures are just too real.

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Obama administration resists release of Osama photos

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/obama-administration-resists-release-of-osama-photos/articleshow/17981910.cms

11 Jan, 2013, 03.31PM IST, PTI

WASHINGTON: Even almost two years after the world's most wanted terrorist was slain by American special forces, President Barack Obama's administration is refusing to release photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body, warning that this would risk "grave damage" to national security.

Though media outlets worldwide had made a clamour for 52 photographs taken during 'Operation Geronimo' to be released, the Obama administration has stoutly resisted, warning that the images could excite an angry, even violent reaction against Americans.

But now, a conservative legal group, Judicial Watch said that the government has "failed to provide any evidence that all 52 images, including those depicting bin Laden's burial at sea, pertain to 'foreign activities of the United States'".

The conservative legal group, argued before a three-judge appeals panel that the Freedom of Information Act requires the government to release the pictures or it be made to explain why the release of photographs could damage national security, CNN reported.

The al-Qaeda chief was slain on May 2, 2011 in a raid on his Pakistani hideout in Abbottabad by US Navy Seals, who took pictures of their target to confirm the success of their mission.

Earlier attempts to get the photos released were thrown out by a court last year, which accepted the administration's contention that their publication could harm national security.

The watch-group contended before the court that bin Laden was "the mastermind of 9/11" and "the most wanted terrorist in the world".

In a statement released before the hearing, the channel said that the Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton argued "Obama is asking the courts to rewrite the Freedom of Information Act to allow the administration to withhold documents simply because their disclosure may cause controversy".

Judicial Watch said its appeal makes clear that the group is not seeking information about equipment or techniques used in the raid.

"Defendants also have failed to provide any evidence that images depicting the burial at sea actually pertain to 'intelligence activities.'

"Nor have they demonstrated that the release of images of a somber, dignified burial at sea reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable or describable exceptionally grave damage to national security."

The Federal Appeals Court reserved the judgement. But, it was not known when it will issue its ruling.

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Tom Fitton, Head of Judicial Watch, Battling Obama Administration for Access to Photos of Usama Bin Laden’s Body

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/01/11/tom-fitton-head-of-judicial-watch-battling-obama-administration-for-access-to-photos-of-usama-bin-ladens-body/

1/12/2013

The watchdog group Judicial Watch is battling the Obama administration in court for the release of 52 photos of the body of terrorist leader Usama bin Laden and his burial.

The Justice Department has argued making the photos public could inflame tensions in the Muslim world. At the time of bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan, President Obama said he would not release the photos because he did not want the world to view it as “spiking the football.” The body was ultimately buried at sea.

In denying this Freedom of Information Act request, the administration said the photos could harm national security or lead to attacks on Americans overseas. The case is now in a federal appeals court.

The head of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, joined Bill Hemmer this morning, arguing that it is the American people’s right to have the photos released.

“The law requires their release. President Obama almost immediately said ‘we don’t want to release the photos because we don’t want to be seen as spiking the football.’ Well our Freedom of Information Act doesn’t have any exemptions for spiking the football. He may think these photos are politically controversial, but we don’t not follow the law just because the president is uncomfortable with the results of following it,” said Fitton.

Fitton went on to say that one of the judges at the hearing yesterday even stated that an anti-Islam video had led to the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, even though that has been proven false.

Video At Source

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CIA finds seven more photos of dead Bin Laden

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2013/02/cia-finds-seven-more-photos-of-dead-bin-laden-157185.html

By JOSH GERSTEIN |
2/15/13 5:50 PM EST

The Central Intelligence Agency recently found seven additional photographs of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's dead body that were not turned up in earlier searches, a Justice Department lawyer said Friday.

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests for such images, the Justice Department had previously told requesters and the courts that there were 52 pictures of the corpse. All the photos were withheld both as classified national security secrets and as operational files of the CIA.

However, in a letter Friday, Justice Department attorney Marcia Berman told the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch that the initial search missed the extra seven photos. She did not explain how, why or precisely when they turned up.

"I am writing to let you know that the CIA recently located seven additional images of Osama Bin Laden's body from the May 1, 2011 operation that resulted in his death," Berman wrote in the letter, also filed with a federal appeals court and posted here. "Had they been located previously, these records would have been responsive to your FOIA request. These additional images were not located during the CIA's search for responsive records in this case."

Berman said the records were considered classified and are being withheld for the same reason as the 52 other images.

The CIA declined to comment on the matter, citing a policy of not commenting on matters in litigation.

The oversight is embarassing for a couple of reasons.

First, the matter has been through two rounds of litigation: a district court case which resulted in a ruling approving the withholding of the first batch of photos and an appeal which has been briefed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and was argued there last month. So, both courts were misinformed in briefs, declarations and oral argument about the number of photos at issue.

Second, this has happened before with the CIA in another high-profile case also litigated by Judicial Watch: a suit seeking records related to the government's cooperation with the makers of the film "Zero Dark Thirty." Last July, the government (also through Berman) announced it belatedly discovered a four-to-five-inch stack of documents that it did not find in previous searches. The discovery of the "overlooked" records also came while the case was in litigation.

That said, the belated discovery of the photos is unlikely to affect the substance of the appeals court's ruling on the issue, since the Justice Department insists that the photos are similar to the records previously withheld. However, it's possible Judicial Watch might be able to pry out a bit more information about the discovery of the photos, since the government was more forthcoming with details about discovery of the film-related documents.

Judicial Watch, the Associated Press and various news organizations (including POLITICO) requested all images of Bin Laden's body soon after the U.S. raid that killed the Al Qaeda figure at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan in September 2011.

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CIA Finds More Photos Of Osama Bin Laden's Corpse, But We Still Can’t See Them

http://www.ibtimes.com/cia-finds-more-photos-osama-bin-ladens-corpse-we-still-cant-see-them-1089700

BY Maya Shwayder | February 16 2013 3:22 PM

There are now at least seven pictures of Osama bin Laden’s corpse that had not been officially acknowledged until last week, according to a letter the U.S. Department of Justice sent on Friday to Judicial Watch, a D.C.-based political watchdog group.

Michael Bekesha, a Judicial Watch Staff Attorney, had made a Freedom of Information Act request for photos of bin Laden’s corpse, and now he’s suing to have those photos released to the public.

The photos have never been made public despite repeated FOIA attempts by several journalists to have them released. The lack of photos, and the burial of bin Laden’s body at sea immediately after his death, have fueled conspiracy theories that bin Laden is either not dead or had been dead for several years prior to the official date on which he was killed.

On Friday, the Department of Justice responded to Bekesha’s and Judicial Watch’s FOIA request, telling them that the CIA only “recently located seven additional images” of Bin Laden’s body, but it won’t not release them. The justice department said the CIA found the photos too late to respond to Bekesha’s FOIA request.

The letter says, “Had they been located previously, these records would have been responsive to your FOIA request.”

The letter goes on to explain that “these images of Bin Laden’s corpse are of the same nature as the materials the CIA previously identified and discussed,” and, “given the similar nature of these additional images, the fact that they would have been withheld in full for the same reasons as other records, and the fact that Judicial Watch did not challenge the CIA's search, we [the DoJ] do not believe the discovery of these additional images is relevant to the appeal currently pending before the D.C. Circuit.”

The letter also says that John Bennett, Director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, has “personally reviewed these seven additional images” and concluded they still need to be classified.

Judicial Watch describes itself as “a conservative, non-partisan American educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics, and the law.” They receive much of their funding from conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, who runs the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Carthage Foundation, both of which give grants to public policy groups.