Groups Sue Pentagon Over Iraq Abuses (WOW sue, sue, sue!!!)

[LittleApple81]

Groups Sue Pentagon Over Iraq Abuses

by Jim Lobe
A coalition of civil-rights and veterans groups charged in a New York court Wednesday that the U.S. Defense Department is withholding records about the abuse of detainees in military custody as part of the Bush administration's "war against terrorism."

The federal court lawsuit accuses the Pentagon of failing to comply with a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request the groups filed in October 2003. It also named the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State along with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"The administration's ongoing refusal to release these records is absolutely unacceptable, particularly in light of the severity of the abuses we now know to have occurred," said Jameel Jaffer, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.

"The public has a right to know what the government's policies were, why these abuses were allowed to take place and who was ultimately responsible," he added in a statement.

Besides the ACLU, the groups that launched the court action include the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. They said it was the first lawsuit aimed at compelling the government to disclose records under the FOIA.

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http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=2737