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For Immediate Release
Contact: media@aclu.org

ACLU In Court Today To Argue For Release Of Torture Documents

Government Continues To Withhold Key Documents In ACLU Lawsuit

NEW YORK

The
American Civil Liberties Union will be in federal court in New York
today, Wednesday, September 30 for oral arguments in its Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for documents related to the treatment
of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas.

The ACLU and its co-counsel will
argue for the release of redacted portions of Justice Department Office
of Legal Counsel (OLC) memos describing "enhanced interrogation
techniques" authorized for use by the CIA, as well as documents
describing the contents of destroyed videotapes depicting CIA
interrogations. The government has said it will continue to withhold
the documents and portions of documents regarding the Bush
administration's torture program despite extensive public knowledge of
the program.

The ACLU will also argue for the declassification of three detainees' names that were redacted in the OLC memos.

WHAT:
Arguments in the ACLU FOIA lawsuit
for documents related to the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody
overseas, including OLC memos on CIA "enhanced interrogation
techniques" and documents related to the contents of destroyed CIA
interrogation videotapes

WHO:
Jenny-Brooke Condon of Gibbons P.C.
and Alex Abdo of the ACLU will argue for the release of the documents
before U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern
District of New York

WHEN:
Today, Wednesday, September 30, 2009
3:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE:
Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse
Courtroom 14D
500 Pearl St.
New York, NY

More information about the ACLU's FOIA litigation is at: www.aclu.org/accountability

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

(212) 549-2666