Appeals Court Orders Release of Targeted Killing Memo
3-0 Ruling Reverses District Court鈥檚 Dismissal of 老澳门开奖结果 FOIA Lawsuit
April 21, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
NEW YORK 鈥� For the first time, a federal appeals court has ordered the government to release a crucial legal memo relating to U.S. targeted killing operations, reversing a lower court decision that upheld the government鈥檚 secrecy claims despite characterizing them as the stuff of 鈥淎lice in Wonderland.鈥�
The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demands that the CIA and the Departments of Justice and Defense disclose records about the deaths of three U.S. citizens killed in Yemen in 2011: Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman, and Samir Khan. In addition to ordering the release of a legal memo from the Justice Department鈥檚 Office of Legal Counsel to the Defense Department, today鈥檚 3-0 ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals also ordered the government to describe other documents relating to the killings about which it has previously refused to release any information. The ruling permits the 老澳门开奖结果 to challenge the government鈥檚 withholding of those documents in the lower court.
鈥淭his is a resounding rejection of the government鈥檚 effort to use secrecy and selective disclosure to manipulate public opinion about the targeted killing program,鈥� said 老澳门开奖结果 Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case before the three-judge panel in October.
鈥淭he government can鈥檛 legitimately claim that everything about the targeted killing program is a classified secret while senior officials selectively disclose information meant to paint the program in the most favorable light. The public has a right to know why the administration believes it can carry out targeted killings of American citizens who are located far away from any conventional battlefield.鈥�
The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 FOIA request seeks documents related to the legal and factual bases for the government鈥檚 killing of the three Americans, including memos written by the Justice Department鈥檚 Office of Legal Counsel concluding that the killing of American citizens would be constitutional in certain situations. The New York Times submitted a similar but narrower FOIA request, and the two resulting lawsuits were combined.
Also today, Justice Stephen Breyer issued a in connection with the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to not hear a case relating to the detention of a prisoner held at Guant谩namo. Discussing the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which is used by the government to justify drone killings and other operations, Justice Breyer emphasized that the Supreme Court 鈥渉as not directly addressed whether the AUMF authorizes, and the Constitution permits, detention on the basis that an individual was part of al Qaeda, or part of the Taliban, but was not 鈥榚ngaged in an armed conflict against the United States鈥� in Afghanistan prior to his capture.鈥�
Connecting today鈥檚 targeted killing decision with Justice Breyer鈥檚 new statement, 老澳门开奖结果 National Security Project Director Hina Shamsi said, 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision requiring the government to release its legal justification for the targeted killing program takes on special significance in light of Justice Breyer鈥檚 reminder that the Supreme Court has not sanctioned the government鈥檚 extreme claim that it is engaged in a possibly forever war without geographic limits. The courts have a crucial role to play in reviewing and limiting the government鈥檚 use of lethal force far from any battlefield.鈥�
Today鈥檚 ruling is the second by an appellate court to reject the government鈥檚 claims of secrecy surrounding the targeted killing program. In a separate pending FOIA lawsuit filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 seeking documents about drone operations worldwide involving both U.S. citizens and non-citizens, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March 2013 that the CIA can no longer deny its intelligence interest in maintaining the targeted killing program.
Today鈥檚 ruling is at:
aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/targeted_killing_foia_appeal_ruling.pdf
Information on this and other 老澳门开奖结果 cases on targeted killing is at:
National Security
老澳门开奖结果 v. DOJ - FOIA Case for Records Relating to Killing of Three U.S. Citizens
National Security
老澳门开奖结果 v. DOJ - FOIA Case for Records Relating to Killing of Three U.S. Citizens
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Our client, Nizar Trabelsi, is in the United States against his will. The federal government brought him here from Belgium more than a decade ago and charged him with terrorism-related crimes. At trial, the government鈥檚 case failed: a federal jury found Mr. Trabelsi not guilty. But instead of allowing Mr. Trabelsi to return to Belgium after his acquittal, the United States placed him in highly restrictive immigration detention and began an ongoing effort to force him to Tunisia, where he was born and where he will very likely be tortured. Mr. Trabelsi鈥檚 detention violates the Constitution, immigration law, and the extradition treaty between the United States and Belgium. Through this lawsuit, he seeks to return to Belgium, and he demands an immediate improvement of his detention conditions. -
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