U.S. Sued Over Release of Records on Terror Suspect Detainees
Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at 04:25PM
TheSpook
`Excessive secrecy makes accountability impossible,''
The U.S. Justice Department was sued by a civil rights
group seeking the release of court records for people who were detained
without being charged after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Justice
Department took the ``highly unusual step'' of sealing court records
for detainees who file habeas corpus challenges to the legality of
their imprisonment, the People for the American Way Foundation said in
a statement. The group filed suit in U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia. The Justice Department had denied a Freedom of
Information Act request to see court records relating to ``hundreds of
foreign nationals from Middle Eastern and Muslim countries'' detained
after the terrorist attacks, according to the lawsuit. The agency said
the release of the records would result in an invasion of privacy, the
lawsuit stated. Elliot Mincberg, vice president and legal director for
the group, said in the statement, " People shouldn't be able to
disappear into detention without a trace.'' [more ]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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