ACLU Sues CIA For Interrogation Documents

NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. government Thursday to try to prove there is a close link between the White House under President George W. Bush and a program of rough interrogation techniques used against suspected terrorists.

The ACLU said in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that it wanted to force the public release of all records on the subject issued by former President Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials.

Defendants named in the lawsuit were the CIA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Department of State.

On Monday, CIA Director Leon Panetta said in court papers responding to a related lawsuit that releasing documents about the agency's terror interrogations would gravely damage national security.

A Justice Department probe is under way to learn more about the CIA's destruction of 92 videotapes of detainee interrogations that took place in 2002. Officials have said a dozen of those tapes show so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, which critics call torture.

Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for government lawyers in Manhattan, declined to comment. A message for comment left with the Justice Department in Washington was not immediately returned.

The ACLU and other civil rights groups in October 2003 brought a similar lawsuit seeking to use the Freedom of Information Act to get records about the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad. As a result, more than 100,000 pages of government documents have been released.

Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project, said the latest legal action was taken after published reports suggested the White House had a direct role in the efforts to change interrogation techniques after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Jaffer said that when the ACLU first sought documents related to detainee abuse in 2003, it suspected that abuses carried out by the Defense Department and CIA might reflect a broader pattern.

"But we did not consider the possibility that lawyers in the Justice Department and people at the highest levels of the Bush administration were engaged in developing and implementing a far-reaching and brutal torture program," he said. "That is something that was a shock to us, just like it was a shock to most other people."

He said the lawsuits were an effort to create a "complete public record of how the torture program was developed and on whose authority."

The Justice Department has been studying the conduct of the lawyers who wrote legal memos authorizing the CIA to take harsh measures to force terror suspect to talk, including sleep deprivation and waterboarding _ a form of simulated drowning.

The memos were made public earlier this year by the administration of President Barack Obama, prompting some critics of the Bush administration to call for criminal prosecutions against those who authorized the measures.

Obama has said no CIA officials will be prosecuted for following the legal advice they received.

Comments

[Beelzebufo]

The ACLU needs to be stopped-- NOW.

[brandnewstuff]

No one every in the history of the United States did one Adminstration ruin the Constitutional and International laws- As we all have watched many hearing of thoses Officlas commit perjury aka GONZALES..­..........­..........­..........­..........­.... Thank Goodness for the ACLU and CCR- together protecting and defending

http://www.youtube.com/com/watch?v=TXYYC0IHLV4
thank goodness for You Tube- so not historical whoopers can be rewritten

[Coinyer101]

It's too bad that the people have to count on a special interest group to get the transparency they voted for.

[KLordsha]

The ACLU won't get it. Its always interesting to see the shameful behavior some organizations will exhibit to push their agenda. They would rather sacrifice our national security..­.

[amalfedup]

Grow up! The bogyman you are afraid of is a myth created by those who seek to control you through your fear. There is no monster under the bed only a government bent on hiding the truth from the more mature citizens who want to shine the light on what was done in their name and to hold those who did it accountable. If you are silent about torture you are agreeing with it.

[stevchipmunk]

Why is it that it is Obama who says those in the CIA won't be prosecuted­... when he previously said that it was up to the Attorney General who would decide who gets prosecuted? Or is it that Obama is a mind reader and can read Eric Holder's mind? Or is it that Eric Holder is a puppet...? Or is it that Obama is someone who says one thing (to win an election) but does something else (to try to curry the favor of the opposition)? Or is it something even worse?

[zizizzi]

Perhaps Obama & Holder are in close comunicati­on...

[Coinyer101]

They seem confused about their job descriptions.

[iswideopen]

As a staunch democrat, I say to you, let it go. Do you want to be right, or do you want to put us at risk. Forget the dumb shi@. You never are satisfied with democrats moving the agenda forward so that the system can at least have a chance of working for all Americans. You want it all. You don't live in a "perfect world". Get over it already. I am not willing to be put at such risk. Just imagine what those who hate America already will do. Use your common sense. LET IT GO.

[barra]

Who backs theses guys.....A­l-Qaeda?

[barra]

Whoops!

[ohboy]

I back them. My Aunt Sophie did, too.

[Coinyer101]

I do. It's the only way we get any truth out of our gubment.

[LemonMeringue]

That's it. I am joining. Finally.

Carrying the card too, LOL

[Coinyer101]

I joined and donated a while back. They will be getting all my election donations from now on, along with NORML.

[LeftWingBedlam]

The aclu is such a disgrace. There shame has no boundaries.

[ohboy]

"There [sic] shame has no boundaries­."

... Neither does your ignorance of our Constitution or your hatred for democracy.

[Coinyer101]

You don't like knowing the truth?

[YouCanKeepYourChange]

The ACLU is all about politics and could give a rats a$$ about the safety of our soldiers, its really pathetic

[LemonMeringue]

Uh, the ACLU is the opposite of politics.

[dillydawg]

You have to take the good w/the bad. The ACLU is not about politics. It is about protecting and defending our rights. Many times its an ugly job yielding ugly results but it's a job that has to be done.

[ohboy]

But you'll wave a flag from your armchair while our goverment sends the same soldiers to die for corporate profit. Way to be patriotic. Got a hotdog to eat?

[Lucas702]

i dont think its so much the SAFETY of our soldiers as they are already in harms way..plus, thats what they are trained for. I think it's more about how our soldiers will be viewed after the photos are realeased and the shame it might bring upon them for what some have done. we see them as collective heroes now, but that might change once we see the horrible, painful, and sexual things done to these detainees.­..now picture those things being done to one of our guys out there...te­rrible, I know. But thats why we need to hold someone accountable!!

[Coinyer101]

and yer obviously a hayseed that has no idea what they do.

[dax49]

all of these people who are so upset about the release of these pictures are noticeably silent about the criminals who perpetrated these crimes- maybe panetta, leiberman, and graham should focus on the people who put us in danger

[gbrooks]

I joined the ACLU today because of the fantastic work they're doing in exposing what really went on at these detainee camps.

[Deidroni]

THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION IS ONE OF THE MOST PATRIOTIC ORGANIZATIONS IN AMERICA.

[Atticus]

BULLSHEET!!

[Coinyer101]

WOOOHOOO! GO ACLU! I'm going to go donate ,again, right now!

[roshni]

Good. I hope the ACLU wins.