Secrecy of September 11 Detainees Challenged

Center for National Security Studies v. The Department Of Justice

Secrecy News, by Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy Volume 2002, Issue No. 25, 25 March 2002

Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists. To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to majordomo@lists.fas.org with this command in the body of the message: "subscribe secrecy_news"

 

"For the first time in at least recent history, the United States government has arrested and jailed hundreds of individuals and kept their identities secret," observed several civil liberties organizations in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit they filed to challenge the continuing secrecy surrounding persons detained by the government in the aftermath of September 11.

"The government's refusal to release the names of the more than 750 detainees is a stark departure from the bedrock principle that the government must disclose the identity of people whom it forcibly deprives of liberty," the challengers said in their latest pleading.

Initially filed last December, the lawsuit -- Center for National Security Studies (CNSS), et al, v. Department of Justice -- has already produced an instructive record that rewards attention.

See selected pleadings from the case, particularly the plaintiff's latest motion of March 18, on the CNSS web site here:

The Center for National Security Studies v. The Department Of Justice
http://www.cnss.gwu.edu/~cnss/cnssvdoj.htm

Copyright © 2002 Federation of American Scientists
Reprinted for Fair Use Only.