12.21.2004
U.S. Loses Bid to Stop Turnover of CIA Records (Reuters.com)
By Gail Appleson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government lost a bid on Monday to block civil rights groups from obtaining CIA records of its internal investigation into abuse of detainees held by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied a government motion aimed at stopping an earlier order to turn over documents.
The decision was made in a lawsuit brought against the government by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups for what they said was the illegal withholding of records about U.S. military abuse of prisoners held in Iraq, the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba and other locations.
The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, charged that the CIA and other federal agencies failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request filed by the groups in October 2003 and May 2004. The FOIA allows citizens access to public federal records.
"This (ruling) is extremely important," said attorney Lawrence Lustberg, who is assisting the civil rights groups. "What we're going to get are the fruits of the CIA's own internal investigation."
(More ... Top News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 15:18
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government lost a bid on Monday to block civil rights groups from obtaining CIA records of its internal investigation into abuse of detainees held by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied a government motion aimed at stopping an earlier order to turn over documents.
The decision was made in a lawsuit brought against the government by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups for what they said was the illegal withholding of records about U.S. military abuse of prisoners held in Iraq, the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba and other locations.
The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, charged that the CIA and other federal agencies failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request filed by the groups in October 2003 and May 2004. The FOIA allows citizens access to public federal records.
"This (ruling) is extremely important," said attorney Lawrence Lustberg, who is assisting the civil rights groups. "What we're going to get are the fruits of the CIA's own internal investigation."
(More ... Top News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 15:18
