Drone Papers Aftermath: ACLU Demands Secret Program Data
The Freedom of Information Act was put into law to hold officials accountable in cases just like this, ACLU argues
The ACLU on Monday filed an appeal brief demanding that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hand over data on its secretive global drone program, including the identities of people killed by airstrikes carried out by the U.S. military in Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
No information on the program, including its legal justification, has been officially disclosed to the public.
The Intercept published The Drone Papers last week, a months-long investigation into the program that used a cache of intelligence documents leaked by an anonymous whistleblower to reveal the operation's internal structure and the chain of command underlying the military's aerial assassinations. In the aftermath of the report, the ACLU and several other human rights and civil liberties organizations demanded immediate accountability for the officials involved.
With Monday's appeal brief, the ACLU is renewing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in January 2010 to force the CIA to release the data.
The information "is crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and hold policymakers accountable for their decisions," the brief states. The FOIA was enacted to "guarantee the public access to the kind of information the CIA is now withholding."
In addition to the CIA's program, the ACLU is also seeking information on a similar operation conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense. Together, the two programs are estimated to have killed thousands of civilians in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan, according to independent calculations by journalists, analysts, and other sources on the ground in those countries.
The case has been slow to move through federal courts. In 2013, a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., rejected the CIA's argument that disclosing data on its drone program would jeopardize national security. However, in June of this year, Judge Rosemary Collyer of the D.C. district court ruled (pdf) in favor of the agency, allowing it to keep the information secret.
But Collyer got it wrong, says ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer. He writes in an op-ed published Tuesday:
According to credible, independent studies, the strikes have killed more than three thousand people, including hundreds of civilians. Although many Americans have raised questions about the effectiveness, morality, and lawfulness of the government's drone campaign, the government has exercised tight control over the information available to the public.
Jaffer wrote that the ACLU filed a FOIA request in the case "to compel the release of information that is crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and hold policymakers accountable for their decisions."
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
The ACLU on Monday filed an appeal brief demanding that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hand over data on its secretive global drone program, including the identities of people killed by airstrikes carried out by the U.S. military in Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
No information on the program, including its legal justification, has been officially disclosed to the public.
The Intercept published The Drone Papers last week, a months-long investigation into the program that used a cache of intelligence documents leaked by an anonymous whistleblower to reveal the operation's internal structure and the chain of command underlying the military's aerial assassinations. In the aftermath of the report, the ACLU and several other human rights and civil liberties organizations demanded immediate accountability for the officials involved.
With Monday's appeal brief, the ACLU is renewing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in January 2010 to force the CIA to release the data.
The information "is crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and hold policymakers accountable for their decisions," the brief states. The FOIA was enacted to "guarantee the public access to the kind of information the CIA is now withholding."
In addition to the CIA's program, the ACLU is also seeking information on a similar operation conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense. Together, the two programs are estimated to have killed thousands of civilians in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan, according to independent calculations by journalists, analysts, and other sources on the ground in those countries.
The case has been slow to move through federal courts. In 2013, a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., rejected the CIA's argument that disclosing data on its drone program would jeopardize national security. However, in June of this year, Judge Rosemary Collyer of the D.C. district court ruled (pdf) in favor of the agency, allowing it to keep the information secret.
But Collyer got it wrong, says ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer. He writes in an op-ed published Tuesday:
According to credible, independent studies, the strikes have killed more than three thousand people, including hundreds of civilians. Although many Americans have raised questions about the effectiveness, morality, and lawfulness of the government's drone campaign, the government has exercised tight control over the information available to the public.
Jaffer wrote that the ACLU filed a FOIA request in the case "to compel the release of information that is crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and hold policymakers accountable for their decisions."
The ACLU on Monday filed an appeal brief demanding that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hand over data on its secretive global drone program, including the identities of people killed by airstrikes carried out by the U.S. military in Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
No information on the program, including its legal justification, has been officially disclosed to the public.
The Intercept published The Drone Papers last week, a months-long investigation into the program that used a cache of intelligence documents leaked by an anonymous whistleblower to reveal the operation's internal structure and the chain of command underlying the military's aerial assassinations. In the aftermath of the report, the ACLU and several other human rights and civil liberties organizations demanded immediate accountability for the officials involved.
With Monday's appeal brief, the ACLU is renewing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in January 2010 to force the CIA to release the data.
The information "is crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and hold policymakers accountable for their decisions," the brief states. The FOIA was enacted to "guarantee the public access to the kind of information the CIA is now withholding."
In addition to the CIA's program, the ACLU is also seeking information on a similar operation conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense. Together, the two programs are estimated to have killed thousands of civilians in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan, according to independent calculations by journalists, analysts, and other sources on the ground in those countries.
The case has been slow to move through federal courts. In 2013, a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., rejected the CIA's argument that disclosing data on its drone program would jeopardize national security. However, in June of this year, Judge Rosemary Collyer of the D.C. district court ruled (pdf) in favor of the agency, allowing it to keep the information secret.
But Collyer got it wrong, says ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer. He writes in an op-ed published Tuesday:
According to credible, independent studies, the strikes have killed more than three thousand people, including hundreds of civilians. Although many Americans have raised questions about the effectiveness, morality, and lawfulness of the government's drone campaign, the government has exercised tight control over the information available to the public.
Jaffer wrote that the ACLU filed a FOIA request in the case "to compel the release of information that is crucial to the public's ability to understand government policy and hold policymakers accountable for their decisions."