[Vision2020] 05-21-04 ACLU: Abuse Information Stonewalled 7 Montns

Art Deco aka W. Fox deco@moscow.com
Fri, 21 May 2004 09:35:18 -0700 

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0044_01C43F16.EE1B8D70
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_001_0045_01C43F16.EE1B8D70"


------=_NextPart_001_0045_01C43F16.EE1B8D70
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

May 21, 2004


  Documents released last week by the ACLU reveal that the Pentagon refused to
expedite a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, filed seven months ago,
for documents related to the abuse and possible torture of U.S.-held detainees.

  The FOIA request was filed in October 2003 by the ACLU and four other
organizations: the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human
Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace. Full compliance with
the request would have required the Defense Department to release records
related to the emerging scandal at Abu Ghraib. The petitioners are currently
considering litigation to force compliance with the request.

  The Pentagon has twice rejected the ACLU's call for "expedited processing"
claiming that the subject matter of the request was not "breaking news" and that
there was no "compelling need" for the immediate release of information about
the mistreatment of detainees. The Defense Department also claimed that
expediting the request was unnecessary because failure to expedite would not
"endanger the life or safety of any individual."

  "The Defense Department's stonewalling is absolutely unacceptable,
particularly in light of the fact that mistreatment and abuse of detainees
appears to have been systemic," said Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU staff attorney. "The
American public has a right to know what's being done in its name."

  Release of the FOIA documents comes several days after the ACLU submitted a
letter to President Bush saying that the Abu Ghraib debacle was a "predictable
result" of American detention policies in the war on terrorism that routinely
flout the rule of law and American values.

------=_NextPart_001_0045_01C43F16.EE1B8D70
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=3D4>
<P align=3Dright><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" =
color=3D#000066=20
size=3D2><B>May 21, 2004&nbsp;</B></FONT></P><!-- =
------------------------MAIN STORY---------------------------------      =
  -->
<DIV align=3Dcenter><IMG height=3D50=20
src=3D"http://www.aclu.org/images/client/ACF5ADC.gif" width=3D400> =
</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
  <P><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D2>Documents =
released last=20
  week by the ACLU reveal that the Pentagon refused to expedite a =
Freedom of=20
  Information Act (FOIA) request, filed seven months ago, for documents =
related=20
  to the abuse and possible torture of U.S.-held detainees. </FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D2>The FOIA =
request was filed=20
  in October 2003 by the ACLU and four other organizations: the Center =
for=20
  Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for =
Common Sense,=20
  and Veterans for Peace. Full compliance with the request would have =
required=20
  the Defense Department to release records related to the emerging =
scandal at=20
  Abu Ghraib. The petitioners are currently considering litigation to =
force=20
  compliance with the request.</FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D2>The Pentagon =
has twice=20
  rejected the ACLU's call for "expedited processing" claiming that the =
subject=20
  matter of the request was not "breaking news" and that there was no=20
  "compelling need" for the immediate release of information about the=20
  mistreatment of detainees. The Defense Department also claimed that =
expediting=20
  the request was unnecessary because failure to expedite would not =
"endanger=20
  the life or safety of any individual."</FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D2>"The Defense =
Department's=20
  stonewalling is absolutely unacceptable, particularly in light of the =
fact=20
  that mistreatment and abuse of detainees appears to have been =
systemic," said=20
  Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU staff attorney. "The American public has a =
right to=20
  know what's being done in its name."</FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=3D"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=3D2>Release of the =
FOIA=20
  documents comes several days after the ACLU submitted a letter to =
President=20
  Bush saying that the Abu Ghraib debacle was a "predictable result" of =
American=20
  detention policies in the war on terrorism that routinely flout the =
rule of=20
  law and American values.</FONT> =
</P></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_001_0045_01C43F16.EE1B8D70--

------=_NextPart_000_0044_01C43F16.EE1B8D70
Content-Type: image/gif;
	name="ACF5ADC.gif"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Location: http://www.aclu.org/images/client/ACF5ADC.gif
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------=_NextPart_000_0044_01C43F16.EE1B8D70--