Defense Dept. Personnel Impersonated State Dept. Officials...(ACLU)

Defense Department Personnel Impersonated State Department Officials in Guantánamo Interrogations, FBI Documents Show

May 26, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

Defense Department And CIA Are Unlawfully Withholding Photographs and Documents Concerning Torture Of Prisoners, ACLU Argues in Court Today

NEW YORK -- Documents released by the FBI state that Defense Department personnel impersonated State Department officials in interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

"Defense Department interrogators, possibly on instructions from high-level officials, went to great lengths to avoid being held accountable for the use of unlawful interrogation methods," said Jameel Jaffer, a staff attorney with the ACLU. "Apparently Defense Department personnel were willing to use torture but they wanted others to be held responsible for it."

In December 2004, the FBI released documents stating that Defense Department interrogators impersonated FBI agents in order to avoid being held responsible for the use of "torture techniques." The new documents provide the first indication that Defense Department interrogators impersonated State Department officials as well.

The documents released by the ACLU today are different versions of documents that the FBI provided to the ACLU several months ago. One of the new documents which was previously redacted refers to "information concerning impersonation by DOD interrogators at Guantánamo representing themselves to be officials of the FBI and U.S. State Department." The remainder of the document is almost entirely redacted. Another of the newly released documents, dated January 2004, suggests that the FBI would "finally make an arrest" in relation to the "interrogations in June 2003 when an FBI agent was impersonated."

(More at this link)
<http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=18336&c=206>

(As I'm not sure if "Press Releases" are subject to the 4 Paragraph rule, I am posting the FULL Press release below, so that if it violates the rules, it can be easily deleted.)

Defense Department Personnel Impersonated State Department Officials in Guantánamo Interrogations, FBI Documents Show

May 26, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

Defense Department And CIA Are Unlawfully Withholding Photographs and Documents Concerning Torture Of Prisoners, ACLU Argues in Court Today

NEW YORK -- Documents released by the FBI state that Defense Department personnel impersonated State Department officials in interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

"Defense Department interrogators, possibly on instructions from high-level officials, went to great lengths to avoid being held accountable for the use of unlawful interrogation methods," said Jameel Jaffer, a staff attorney with the ACLU. "Apparently Defense Department personnel were willing to use torture but they wanted others to be held responsible for it."

In December 2004, the FBI released documents stating that Defense Department interrogators impersonated FBI agents in order to avoid being held responsible for the use of "torture techniques." The new documents provide the first indication that Defense Department interrogators impersonated State Department officials as well.

The documents released by the ACLU today are different versions of documents that the FBI provided to the ACLU several months ago. One of the new documents which was previously redacted refers to "information concerning impersonation by DOD interrogators at Guantánamo representing themselves to be officials of the FBI and U.S. State Department." The remainder of the document is almost entirely redacted. Another of the newly released documents, dated January 2004, suggests that the FBI would "finally make an arrest" in relation to the "interrogations in June 2003 when an FBI agent was impersonated."

The FBI released the documents in response to a federal court order that directed the FBI and other government agencies to comply with a request under the Freedom of Information Act filed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.

Today, the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union will return to federal court to argue for the release of other documents withheld by the Defense Department and the CIA.

"The United States government continues to withhold documents critical for determining who is ultimately responsible for the systemic and widespread abuse of detainees held in U.S. custody abroad," said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU. "The public has a right to know the full truth about the involvement of high ranking U.S. officials in this scandal."

At today’s hearing, the ACLU will seek the disclosure of Department of Justice memoranda relating to CIA interrogation methods and a Presidential directive authorizing the CIA to set up secret detention centers in other countries. Although the documents have been referenced in media reports, the CIA has refused even to confirm or deny that the documents exist. The ACLU will also seek the disclosure of photographs of abuse and Defense Department documents relating to concerns raised by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The government agencies named as defendants in the case are: the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Today's documents are online at: http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/052605/. All documents obtained to date are online at www.aclu.org/torturefoia/.

At today’s hearing, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein will hear oral arguments from attorneys representing the ACLU and the government. The hearing will continue on Tuesday, May 31 at 10 a.m. in Judge Hellerstein’s courtroom at the United States District Court located at 500 Pearl Street in New York.

The lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Singh, Jaffer and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur N. Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

<http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=18336&c=206>

(This is a NEW ACLU Press Release, Which is related and the result referred to in the May 26, 2005 Press Release, which I posted about One Week ago. I heard about this during the NPR Hourly news update, If your favorite News source has nor reported this, you should send this to them and ask them to report it!)


A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to turn over photographs and movies depicting detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the ACLU.

Federal Court Orders Government to Turn Over Videos and Photos Showing Detainee Abuse

June 2, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

NEW YORK -- A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to turn over dozens of photographs and four movies depicting detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"These images may be ugly and shocking, but they depict how the torture was more than the actions of a few rogue soldiers," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "The American public deserves to know what is being done in our name. Perhaps after these and other photos are forced into the light of day, the government will at long last appoint an outside special counsel to investigate the torture and abuse of detainees."

The court order came in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights to obtain documents and materials pertaining to the treatment of detainees held by American forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay.

Attorneys for the government had argued that turning over visual evidence of abuse would violate the United States’ obligations under the Geneva Conventions, but the ACLU said that obscuring the faces and identifiable features of the detainees would erase any potential privacy concerns. The court agreed.

"It is indeed ironic that the government invoked the Geneva Conventions as a basis for withholding these photographs," said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney at the ACLU. "Had the government genuinely adhered to its obligations under these Conventions, it could have prevented the widespread abuse of detainees held in its custody in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay."

The court order filed late yesterday requires the government by June 30 to reprocess and redact 144 detainee abuse photographs provided by Sergeant Joseph Darby to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command. The order also requires the government to provide the court with an estimate of the length of time it will take to reprocess and redact four movies included as part of the Darby collection by June 10. The decision comes after the court privately viewed eight of the images from the Darby collection to determine whether the photographs should be released under the FOIA. The ACLU expects redacted versions of the photographs to be released within the next six weeks.

To date, more than 35,000 pages of documents have been released in response to the FOIA lawsuit. The ACLU has been posting these documents online at <http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia>.

The FOIA lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Amrit Singh, Jameel Jaffer and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur N. Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The court order is available at:
<http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=18395&c=206>

DETAINEES-2797B

E-mail (from CTD employee to Frankie Battle) noting that sender is forwarding this EC up the chain of command, concerning alleged impersonation of FBI Agents at GTMO

12/05/03

Same document as Detainee-2797 with the following unredacted: "Of concern, DOD interrogators impersonating Supervisory Special Agents of the FBI told a detainee that the FBI…" and "These tactics have produced no intelligence of a threat neutralization nature to date and CITF believes that techniques have destroyed any chance of prosecuting this detainee." and "If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done (by) the "FBI" interrogators. The FBI will (be) left holding the bag before the public."

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

please oh please let this piss the crap out of someone...ANYONE..that feels a little revenge would be sweet.

This IS Big People. Read This Post!

:kick:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1811545
Thread title: “Smoking Gun Alert: DoD e-mails show plot to blame FBI for Torture!”

This is a major, major development!

On a smaller scale, this reminds me of how those thugs that evicted three people from a public, taxpayer-funded speaking event by Bush because of their bumper sticker. Remember? At least one of the thugs claimed to be a Secret Service agent, and the SS went to investigate. Last I heard, info on who this WH-associated SS-impersonator really was was being stonewalled. Anyone hear anything recently?

Just above the "blaim the FBI" email (which I think this is the reply to), ask about the DHS personel (Department of Homeland Security).:evilgrin:



I sure would hate to think Tom Ridge was involved in this. :sarcasm:

their powers. They don't want people to be TOO afraid of the Dept of Homeland Security - they're too much like Orwell's Thought Police already, and they want to pass more Patriot Act insanities.

I hope this FOIA exposure is widely distributed. It needs to be publicized, big time.

In addition to the other crimes committed, isn't that one as well?

I know it says the FBI will finally make an arrest, but did they?

A major federal crime, a "High Crime" you might say.:evilgrin:

I hope the FBI burns these impersonators and exposes the whole racket. There is just no end of the slime with the Bush cartel. It starts at the top and slithers down all the way. THIS must be what "trickle down" really means. Never made any sense to me before.

Solly Mack, my daughter loves the banana pic. :D

parental warning: very, very, naughty Banana.

but he's my favorite! :D

We don't want it to die like a lot of other Friday data dumps.

Smoking Gun Alert: DoD e-mails show plot to blame FBI for Torture!
at this link:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1811545>

:kick:

Thanks

...action reported in Any news media, report it here too.

:kick:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3739484>

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=109&topic_id=16866>

More soon. If you want to help. grab a pdf file and start looking for more damaging info at:

<http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=torturefoia>:patriot: