老澳门开奖结果

Yesterday, a federal appeals court announced that it will hear the government鈥檚 appeal of an earlier ruling that allowed the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan Inc., to go forward. In 2007, we sued Jeppesen for its role in the Bush administration鈥檚 unlawful 鈥渆xtraordinary rendition鈥� program. Our lawsuit was filed on behalf of five men who were forcibly disappeared and then tortured in U.S.-run secret overseas prisons or by foreign intelligence agents.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the Bush administration intervened, improperly asserting the 鈥渟tate secrets鈥� privilege and asking the judge to have the case thrown out without considering any evidence in support of the mens鈥� case. Although the lower court upheld the government鈥檚 claims, , a three-judge panel (PDF) of the lawsuit. The panel held, contrary to the assertions of Obama administration lawyers, and as we had argued, that the 鈥渟tate secrets鈥� privilege can only be invoked with respect to specific evidence, and not to dismiss the entire suit. , the Obama administration appealed the decision, and asked an 鈥渆n banc鈥� panel of 11 judges to rehear the case, which the court announced yesterday that it will hear.

Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project, and counsel in the case, stated:

鈥淲e are disappointed by the court鈥檚 decision to re-hear this case, but we hope and expect that the court鈥檚 historic decision to allow the lawsuit to go forward will stand. The CIA鈥檚 rendition and torture program simply is not a 鈥榮tate secret.鈥� In fact, since the court鈥檚 decision in April, the government鈥檚 sweeping secrecy claims have only gotten weaker, with the declassification of additional documents describing the CIA鈥檚 detention and interrogation practices. The Obama administration鈥檚 embrace of overbroad secrecy claims has denied torture victims their day in court and shielded perpetrators from liability or accountability. We hope that the court will reaffirm the principle that victims of torture deserve a remedy, and that no one is above the law.鈥�

The points out that, 鈥淥f the five plaintiffs, two are still imprisoned in Egypt and , and the other three were released without U.S. charges.鈥� To date, no torture victim from the Bush-administration鈥檚 鈥淲ar on Terror鈥� has had his day in court.