Protecting Osama's rights

[greenman3610]

anyone have any more info on this?


http://www.judicialwatch.org/printer_5286.shtml

FBI PROTECTS OSAMA BIN LADEN’S “RIGHT TO PRIVACY” IN DOCUMENT RELEASE

Judicial Watch Investigation Uncovers FBI Documents Concerning Bin Laden Family and Post-9/11 Flights





(Washington, DC)  Judicial Watch, the public interest group that fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) has invoked privacy right protections on behalf of al Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden.  In a September 24, 2003 declassified “Secret” FBI report obtained by Judicial Watch, the FBI invoked Exemption 6 under FOIA law on behalf of bin Laden, which permits the government to withhold all information about U.S. persons in “personnel and medical files and similar files” when the disclosure of such information “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) (2000))



 



Before invoking privacy protections for Osama bin Laden under Exemption 6, the FBI should have conducted a balancing “test” of the public's right to disclosure against the individual's right to privacy.  Many of the references in the redacted documents cite publicly available news articles from sources such as The Washington Post and Associated Press.  Based on its analysis of the news stories cited in the FBI report, Judicial Watch was able to determine that bin Laden’s name was redacted from the document, including newspaper headlines in the footnoted citations.



 



“It is dumbfounding that the United States government has placed a higher priority on the supposed privacy rights of Osama bin Laden than the public’s right to know what happened in the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “It is difficult for me to imagine a greater insult to the American people, especially those whose loved ones were murdered by bin Laden on that day.”   



 



The redacted documents were obtained by Judicial Watch under the provisions of the FOIA and through ongoing litigation (Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security & Federal Bureau of Investigation, No. 04-1643 (RWR)).  Among the documents was a declassified “Secret” FBI report, dated September 24, 2003, entitled: “Response to October 2003 Vanity Fair Article (Re: Family Departures After 9/11/2001).”  Judicial Watch filed its original FOIA request on October 7, 2003.  The full text of the report and related documents are available on the Internet by clicking here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

[meegbear]

1. I don't which is more shocking ...

The fact that the FBI did this, or that Judicial Watch didn't turn this into their obligatory "Clinton bitch-slap" writeup.

[greenman3610]

2. Judicial watch is right wing,

but they've been going after Bush on a number
of issues. I've talked to some people there, and
they tend to be more of the libertarian stripe, and
not comfortable with Christo Fascists..

[Fleshdancer]

3. Foreign terrorists have rights to privacy? The FBI???

I thought the FBI dealt primarily inside the US border while the CIA dealt with everything outside of our borders. I guess I'm oversimplifying their roles? And since when did the FBI uphold the rights to privacy for the guy who is currently their number 1 Most Wanted terrorist?

So the Patriot Act applies to us, law abiding American citizens who haven't committed terrorism and civil liberties are granted to a foreigner who master minded the biggest, deadliest act of terrorism in history? Ooookaaay then.