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A legal rights group and several other advocacy organizations have accused five government agencies of violating the Freedom of Information Act by withholding records on the treatment of prisoners outside the United States.

The groups filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Wednesday, seeking the release of the requested documents, as well as court costs and attorney fees.

The FOIA requests, filed in October 2003, asked for records concerning the treatment of detainees at military bases or detention centers outside the United States, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba. They also called for information on the deaths of prisoners and the practice of sending prisoners to countries known to use torture.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the records were vital to understanding how abuse became widespread. "This isn't primarily an effort to get evidence. I think we have enough evidence," said Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU staff attorney working on the case. "We're looking for records concerning policies and practices that were put in place that sanctioned or allowed the abuse. We want to make sure that there isn't an effort to suppress evidence from people higher up in the chain of command."

In addition to the documents, the legal rights groups sought expedited processing so that information could be obtained and released to the public in a timely manner. While FOIA requires agencies to grant or deny requests within 20 working days, "agencies almost uniformly fail to meet that deadline," said Rebecca Daugherty, director of the FOIA Service Center in Washington. "Having an FOI request in limbo is the norm."

"Without expedited processing, you can't expect to get information like this," Jaffer said. "The agencies claim they have these huge backlogs and with a politically charged issue like this, those backlogs seem to become even more significant."

Processing under ordinary procedures usually takes months or even years, said National Security Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs.

The Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense, Justice, State and Homeland Security departments denied the requests for expedited processing. According to the complaint, several of the agencies said the subject matter was not "breaking news" and claimed the plaintiffs "did not appear to disseminate information as a primary activity."

Daugherty disputed that claim, saying the information is clearly urgent and at least one of the plaintiffs--the ACLU--had a Web site and publications through which it distributed relevant information and news.

The State Department was the only agency to release any information to the plaintiffs. The department gave the organizations a list of talking points used when communicating with the press about prisoners in Guatanamo, Cuba. The Army, as well as the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence, Policy and Review, and Civil Rights division, told the organizations that no records were found in responses to their requests.

Both the FBI and the CIA denied the FOIA requests. The FBI located relevant documents, but said that the records were exempt from disclosure under U.S. Code Title 5, Section 552 (b) (7) (A), which states that agencies can withhold law enforcement information that "could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings."

The CIA claimed the relevant records were "operational files," which are exempt from release under the CIA Information Act. An intelligence official said that in the CIA, "files [are] typically denied when they relate to sources and methods," but she declined to elaborate on the specific reasons for denying this particular request.

The State and Homeland Security departments did not return calls for comment. Justice spokesman Charles Miller said the department is reviewing the case and will respond in court, and a Defense Department spokesman declined to comment on pending litigation.

American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace v. Defense Department, et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. June 2, 2004

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