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Defense Department Releases Documents Relating To Detainee Abuse In U.S. Custody Overseas (07/02/2009)
The Department of Defense today released documents, some with significant redactions, related to detainee abuse in U.S. custody at Guantanamo and other overseas locations. The 12 documents were released as part of an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The Obama administration agreed to reprocess the documents, but continues to withhold many key details related to the Defense Department's use of illegal interrogation methods. In some documents, the Obama administration has withheld details that were previously disclosed by the Bush administration.

Government Further Delays Release Of Crucial CIA Inspector General Report (07/02/2009)
NEW YORK – After agreeing three times to release an Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on the CIA's interrogation and detention program and then reneging, the government announced today it will not release a reprocessed version of the report before August 31. The CIA had agreed to release the OIG report by June 19, 2009. It then requested two extensions – to June 26 and then July 1.

Court Should Suppress Evidence Obtained Through Torture In Jawad Habeas Case, Says ACLU (07/01/2009)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to suppress all evidence obtained through torture and other coercion in the habeas corpus case challenging the unlawful detention of Guantánamo detainee Mohammed Jawad. The judge in Jawad's military commission proceedings previously suppressed statements made by Jawad to Afghan and U.S. officials following his arrest, finding that they were the product of torture. However, the government continues to rely on those same statements in Jawad's habeas corpus challenge.

Obama Administration Should Not Revive Military Commissions, Says ACLU (06/29/2009)
NEW YORK – According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued guidance to the Obama administration on reviving the military commissions system to try Guantánamo detainees. The Journal reports that the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel advised the administration that detainees can claim some constitutional rights if they are tried in military commissions within the United States.

Obama Administration Indefinite Detention Order Would Undermine American Values Of Justice, Says ACLU (06/26/2009)
NEW YORK - According to news reports, the Obama administration is considering issuing an executive order that would reassert executive authority to imprison terrorism suspects without charge or trial.

Italian "Extraordinary Rendition" Victim Still Held In Morocco Based On Tortured Confession (06/25/2009)
NEW YORK – Human rights groups today asked two U.N. Special Rapporteurs to investigate the case of Abou Elkassim Britel, an Italian citizen and victim of the CIA's unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program who is currently held in a Moroccan prison based on a confession coerced from him through torture. The American Civil Liberties Union and Alkarama for Human Rights requested that the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights while Countering Terrorism investigate the circumstances of Britel's forced disappearance, rendition, detention and torture, and raise his case with the governments of the United States, Morocco, Pakistan and Italy.

New Evidence Of Abuse At Bagram Underscores Need For Full Disclosure About Prison, Says ACLU (06/24/2009)
NEW YORK – Former detainees have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, according to a new BBC report based on interviews with former detainees held at Bagram between 2002 and 2006. Hundreds of detainees are still being held in U.S. custody at the Bagram prison without charge or trial.

CIA Delays Release Of Inspector General Report On Torture (06/19/2009)
NEW YORK – The CIA informed the American Civil Liberties Union that it would delay by one week its release of a reprocessed version of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on the CIA's interrogation and detention program. The CIA turned over a heavily redacted version of the report in May 2008 as part of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, but on May 28, 2009, informed the court that it would review the same report with a view toward disclosing more information.

ACLU Sues DHS Over Unlawful TSA Searches And Detention (06/18/2009)
NEW YORK – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is subjecting innocent Americans to unreasonable searches and detentions that violate the Constitution, according to a lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU filed the complaint on behalf of a traveler who was illegally detained and harassed by TSA agents at the airport for carrying approximately $4,700 in cash.

Report Confirms Continued Dragnet Collection Of Americans’ Communications (06/17/2009)
WASHINGTON – The scope of National Security Agency (NSA) domestic surveillance activities is far wider than previously acknowledged, according to a report in today’s New York Times, prompting renewed scrutiny by congressional investigators. It was first disclosed in April that the NSA was exceeding the already overbroad limits granted to it under the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008. Today’s report suggests that the NSA’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ phone calls and emails was even more pervasive.

Attorney General To Testify Before Senate Committee Today On Torture, Surveillance And Civil Rights (06/17/2009)
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today as it holds its first oversight hearing over the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the Obama administration. The American Civil Liberties Union has urged committee members to ask Holder tough questions on issues including overzealous surveillance, the restoration of the DOJ Civil Rights Division and torture.

Obama Administration Should Release CIA Inspector General Report Without Substantial Redactions, Says ACLU (06/17/2009)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today renewed its call for the Obama administration to release a CIA Inspector General report on the CIA's interrogation and detention program. The government is facing a June 19 deadline to reprocess the report in an ongoing ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking documents related to the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas. According to a report in the Washington Post today, CIA officials are pressuring the Obama administration to suppress significant portions of the report.

Newly Released Detainee Statements Provide More Evidence Of CIA Torture Program (06/15/2009)
NEW YORK – The CIA today released still-highly redacted documents in which Guantánamo Bay prisoners describe abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody. The documents were released as part of an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking uncensored transcripts from Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) that determine if prisoners held by the Defense Department at Guantánamo qualify as "enemy combatants." In previously released versions of the documents, the CIA had removed virtually all references to the abuse of prisoners in their custody; the documents released today are still heavily blacked out but include some new information.

Obama Administration Seeks To Keep Torture Victims From Having Day In Court (06/12/2009)
NEW YORK – The Justice Department today argued that the victims of the "extraordinary rendition" program should not have their day in court, asking a federal appeals court to block a landmark case the court had earlier ruled could go forward. In April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan Inc., for its role in the Bush administration's unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program could proceed, but today the government asked the appeals court's full panel of judges to rehear that decision.

Torture Photo Release Decision Should Be Left To Courts, Says ACLU (06/12/2009)
NEW YORK – In an effort to encourage passage of a military spending bill, late Thursday President Obama told members of Congress in a phone call and a letter that he would use every "legal and administrative remedy" available to prevent the release of photos depicting detainee abuse overseas. A federal court had ordered the government to release the photos in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, but stayed that order to allow the government to seek Supreme Court review.

Court Gives Government More Time To Pursue Legal Options On Torture Photos (06/11/2009)
NEW YORK – The Second Circuit Court of Appeals today held that the government does not immediately have to turn over photos depicting the abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas, but can have more time to pursue further legal options. The court had issued an April 27 mandate directing the government to turn over the photos in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, but today recalled that mandate and stayed it pending resolution of the case by the Supreme Court.

ACLU Files Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure Of Still-Secret Torture Documents (06/11/2009)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit seeking the disclosure of still-secret records relating to the torture of prisoners held by the U.S. overseas. The requested documents include legal memos authored by John Yoo and Steven Bradbury, who were lawyers in the Bush administration Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), as well as documents sent by the Bush White House to the CIA. The government has failed to turn over the documents in response to a December 2008 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.