The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) must stop stonewalling US
congressional oversight committees and release vital do***ents related
to the program of secret detentions, renditions, and torture, three
prominent human rights groups said in a statement April 24.
=93The CIA has employed illegal techniques such as torture, enforced
disappearances, and extraordinary rendition,=94 said Meg Satterthwaite,
Director of the NYU IHRC. =93It cannot use Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) exemptions as a ****eld to hide its violations of U.S. and
international law.=94
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR) and the International Human Rights Clinic at New York
University School of Law (NYU IHRC) reiterated their call for
information, following the CIA=92s filing of a summary judgment motion
this week to end a lawsuit and avoid turning over more than 7000
do***ents related to its secret =93ghost=94 detention and extraordinary
rendition program.
This motion is in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
lawsuit filed in federal court last June by these groups. The
organizations will file their response brief next month.
Freedom of Information Act is a powerful tool most individuals and
organizations in the United States use for US judiciary intervention
to elicit do***ents that are kept out of public sight.
Among other assertions, the CIA claimed that it did not have to
release the do***ents because many consist of correspondence with the
White House or top Bush administration officials, or because they are
between parties seeking legal advice on the programs, including
guidance on the legality of certain interrogation procedures.
The CIA confirmed that it requested=97and received=97legal advice from
attorneys at the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel
concerning these procedures.
The media note of the three human rights organizations stated: =93For
the first time, the CIA has acknowledged that extensive records exist
relating to its use of enforced disappearances and secret prisons,=94
said Curt Goering, AIUSA senior deputy executive director. =93Given what
we already know about do***ents written by Bush administration
officials trying to justify torture and other human rights crimes, one
does not need a fertile imagination to conclude that the real reason
for refusing to disclose these do***ents has more to do with avoiding
disclosure of criminal activity than national security.=94
The CIA=92s admission that it possesses at least 7000 do***ents relating
to rendition, secret detention and torture generated renewed calls by
the human rights groups for transparency and accountability from the
government the rights groups further noted.
=93The Freedom of Information Act is one of the major checks on
government criminality in this country,=94 said CCR Executive Director
Vincent Warren. =93The CIA has acknowledged that it has well over 7000
do***ents that relate to the torture and disappearance of men. These
include some of our clients, like Majid Khan, who were known to be in
the program. The public needs to know what crimes were committed in
our name and how they were justified. This has been the most
secretive, least transparent administration in history, and it is well
past time for accountability.=94
AIUSA, CCR, and NYU IHRC have filed FOIA requests with several U.S.
government agencies, including the CIA. These FOIA requests sought
information about individuals who are=97or have been=97held by the U.S.
government or detained with U.S. involvement, and about whom there is
no public record. The requests also sought information about the
government=92s legal justifications for its secret detention and
extraordinary rendition program. Comprehensive information about the
identities and locations of prisoners in CIA custody=97as well as the
conditions of their detention and the specific interrogation methods
used against them=97 has never been publicly revealed. This lack of
transparency continues to prevent scrutiny by the public or the courts
and leaves detainees vulnerable to abuse and torture.
The statement further noted: =93Although the CIA did release a paltry
number of do***ents in response to the FOIA request, most were already
in the public domain, such as newspaper articles and a single copy of
the Fourth Geneva Convention which governs the treatment of civilians
in times of war. The limited relevant do***ents that were released
were do***ents pertaining to briefings demanded by the House and
Senate Intelligence Committees regarding various aspects of the
overseas detention and interrogation program.
=93Do***ents released to plaintiffs by the CIA demonstrate that many
within the government itself have been unable to obtain accurate
information from the CIA. These do***ents, which include letters from
Members of Congress to the CIA, demonstrate a pattern of withholding
information from Congress. In a pointed bipartisan letter on October
16, 2003, then-Chair and Ranking Member of the House Select Committee
on Intelligence requested that CIA Director George Tenet provide
senior level briefings on the treatment of, and information obtained
by, three men known to be held in secret CIA detention, admoni****ng
the CIA by stating that the committee was =93frustrated with the quality
of the information=94 provided in past briefings.
=93The CIA appears to have avoided answering detailed requests for
specific information, responding instead with form letters and
references to briefings. These practices led to a forceful letter from
Senator Carl Levin, Current Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed
Services, (then the Ranking Member) who was attempting to investigate
CIA involvement in detainee deaths. In a letter dated Oct. 24, 2005,
Senator Levin noted that =93[t]he lack of CIA cooperation with the
investigations to date has left significant omissions in the record.=94
The CIA=92s failure to cooperate with members of Congress demonstrates
the need for public scrutiny of the secret detention and extraordinary
rendition program under FOIA.=94
=93The CIA has employed illegal techniques such as torture, enforced
disappearances, and extraordinary rendition,=94 said Meg Satterthwaite,
Director of the NYU IHRC. =93It cannot use FOIA exemptions as a ****eld
to hide its violations of U.S. and international law.=94
In its legal filings, the CIA acknowledged that this program =93will
continue.=94 Some prisoners have been transferred to prisons in other
countries for proxy detention where they face the risk of torture and
where they continue to be held secretly, without charge or trial.
Human rights re****ts indicate that the fate and whereabouts of at
least 30 people believed to have been held in secret U.S. custody
remain unknown.
In September 2006, President Bush publicly acknowledged the existence
of CIA-operated secret prisons. At the same time, 14 detainees from
these facilities were transferred to Guant=E1namo and several more have
arrived since. The administration has admitted to using so-called
=93alternative interrogation procedures=94 on those held in the CIA
program, including water boarding. The international community and the
United States, in other contexts, have unequivocally deemed these
techniques torture.
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