The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged ben wizner

ACLU Not Exactly Cool With Obama Administration Assassinating Americans

By | 02.04.10 | 4:20 pm

Apropos of intelligence chief Dennis Blair’s remarkable disclosure, the following statement comes from the American Civil Liberties Union’s Ben Wizner:

It is alarming to hear that the Obama administration is asserting that the president can authorize the assassination of Americans abroad, even if they are far from any battlefield

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‘State Secrets’ Strikes Again

By | 12.16.09 | 11:14 am

The government’s “state secrets” argument was back in full force yesterday, this time being made by the Justice Department before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in the ongoing case against Jeppesen Dataplan, a Boeing subsidiary. Jeppesen is accused by five alleged victims More…

Court Rules Government Can Continue to Hide Detainee Torture Testimony

By | 10.16.09 | 2:43 pm

A federal court today ruled that the government can continue to suppress transcripts of former CIA prisoners now being held at Guantanamo Bay talking about abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody. The ruling came in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil More…

State Secrets Critics Slam New Obama Policy

By | 09.23.09 | 5:56 pm

Although the Obama administration’s much-anticipated new policy on the use of the so-called “state secrets” privilege, announced this morning, has drawn some praise, civil liberties lawyers and other critics of the use of the privilege don’t think it solves the problem.

The state secrets privilege allows the government More…

ACLU Asks Court to Order Government to Reveal Transcripts of Prisoner Abuse

By | 09.18.09 | 3:41 pm

The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a Washington, D.C., federal court to require the federal government to release the transcripts of 14 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in which they describe abuse and torture suffered in CIA custody.

The transcripts come from the Combatant Status More…

Release of Torture Memos Could Help Victims of CIA Policies in Pending Lawsuits

By | 04.21.09 | 2:50 pm

With the latest batch of Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel torture memos having revealed more of the intricate, gruesome details of the CIA’s interrogation techniques, how can the government continue to claim that its now-defunct “extraordinary rendition” and torture program is a “state secret”?

That’s the question raised in aMore…