ACLU Reacts to Obama’s Latest Torture Non-Disclosure
As I reported on Friday, a federal judge had given the Obama administration until yesterday to disclose or cite the reasons for not disclosing hundreds of documents about the CIA’s former “enhanced interrogation” regime, and the administration opted for continued nondisclosure. The Justice Department filed papers to that effect yesterday, and now the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit insisting the government make the documents public, reacts in a statement:
“„“The CIA’s justification for withholding the documents is entirely incompatible with the Obama administration’s stated commitment to ending torture and restoring governmental transparency. On the one hand, President Obama has publicly recognized that torture undermines the rule of law and America’s standing in the world, but on the other, the CIA continues to argue in court that it cannot disclose information about its torture techniques because it would jeopardize the CIA’s interrogation program,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The CIA’s arguments are utterly disconnected from the Obama administration’s stated positions. The agency seems to be disregarding altogether the important policy changes that President Obama announced immediately after he took office.”
What’s more, the documents in question all support already-disclosed information like the 2004 CIA inspector general’s report on torture or the Office of Legal Counsel memos authorizing the “enhanced interrogation” program, making it curious that the administration would object to further disclosures. The statement continues:
“„“Given the vast amount of evidence that the U.S. torture program was widespread and systemic, it’s disappointing that the government continues to withhold these vital documents that would fill in the remaining gaps in the public record,” said Alex Abdo, a legal fellow with the ACLU’s National Security Project. “The Obama administration must fulfill its commitment to transparency and release all crucial documents that would shed further light on the origins and scope of the Bush administration’s torture program. The American public has a right to know the full truth about the torture that was committed in its name.”
