03/04/06

Timeline of AP's lawsuit seeking information related to Guantanamo detainees

With BC-Guantanamo Detainees
By The Associated Press

Key developments in Associated Press lawsuit seeking information about Guantanamo detainees:

-- January 2002: U.S. military opens prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay naval base. Most captured in late 2001 during U.S.-led war that topples Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

-- Fall 2004: The Associated Press files Freedom of Information Act request for transcripts and other documents related to military hearings for detainees. AP maintains information a "matter of urgent concern" as it reports on constitutional and foreign policy issues presented by government's handling of detainees.

-- April 19, 2005: AP sues Defense Department seeking to force release of transcripts and other documents related to Guantanamo hearings.

-- May 20, 2005: Nearly 2,000 pages of documents released with detainees' names and nationalities blacked out. Documents include excerpts from testimony of prisoners.

-- Aug. 29, 2005: U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in New York orders government to ask each detainee whether he or she wants personal identifying information turned over to AP as part of lawsuit. Of 317 detainees who received form, 63 said yes, 17 said no, 35 returned form without answering and 202 declined to return form.

-- Feb. 23, 2006: Rakoff orders Pentagon to release identities of hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo to AP.

-- March 3, 2006: Pentagon releases more than 5,000 pages of unedited transcripts to AP from at least 317 hearings at Guantanamo.