Reply #69: How about murder/intimidation and trying to shut up the rest at the ACLU?

[flyarm]

How Canadian lawyer unearthed U.S. torture documents
Aug 30, 2009 04:30 AM
Iain Marlow
Staff Reporter
Read it at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/688429


Jameel Jaffer, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer born in London, Ont., was instrumental in filing and fighting an unlikely Freedom of Information Act request that eventually unearthed thousands of pages of secret documents which illustrated damning evidence of U.S. government complicity in violations of international humanitarian law.

"A lot of the documents describe abuses that are really horrific," he said in an interview. "It was hard to believe that these incidents had occurred in facilities run by the United States."

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/world/30intel.html?_r=2

A.C.L.U. Lawyers Mine Documents for Truth

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: August 29, 2009

snip;

In May, Mr. Obama decided to fight the release of hundreds of photographs of abuse, saying they could encourage attacks on American troops abroad. It is the photo issue that the administration is taking to the Supreme Court.

The A.C.L.U.’s success has led some news organizations to take a new look at the potential of the Freedom of Information Act to expose government secrets. But the A.C.L.U. lawyers note that their effort has repeatedly fed off the work of investigative reporters who have identified cases of abuse, legal opinions and other documents that the organization then pursued in court.

Their lawsuit continues. On Monday, the government faces yet another court-imposed deadline to turn over more documents — including the 2001 presidential directive authorizing the secret prisons — or explain why they must be withheld.