NEW YORK, 20 August 2004 — A New York federal judge has ordered the government to release information on detainees being held at military bases overseas.

The information release includes official policies and records requested last October by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein signed the order on Tuesday; it was made public on Wednesday and called a victory by the ACLU.

This organization, and other civil liberty groups, filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation last June, demanding they release information on the detainees.

According to the New York Times, the government has until Monday to release about 70 documents in the case. The civil liberties groups say there are hundreds of other papers that may be pertinent but which they have yet been unable to identify.

“We filed this request almost a year ago, and we are concerned that the ongoing secrecy around the government’s detainee and interrogation policy is something that’s enabling abuse to continue,” said Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU head lawyer in the lawsuit.

“One of the reasons we think it is important to get these documents as quickly as possible is that we want the chance to correct the policies if they are inconsistent with international or domestic law,” Jaffer told the Times.

Judge Hellerstein also said that by this Monday the government must produce a log with explanations for documents it says are exempt from the release, cannot be located or will be produced after the deadline.

A government lawyer suggested the delays may have been caused by the “broad nature of the request and the tedious worked involved” in producing the information, according to an Aug. 12 transcript obtained by the media.

Judge Hellerstein replied: “I think there is a faster way to do it.” The judge then told the government lawyers: “The information may be unpleasant... To allow a process of this nature to go on for so long as to be part of a lawsuit doesn’t seem to be an exercise in good sense and judgment.”