On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Joins with Other Human Rights Groups to Challenge Government Secrecy on Waterboarding
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Rutherford Institute, in conjunction with the Brennan Center for Justice and eight other human rights organizations, is urging an appeals court to overturn a decision permitting the government to refuse to disclose information about its use of waterboarding techniques. The other groups that signed onto the amicus brief are the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Center for Justice and Accountability, High Road for Human Rights Advocacy Project, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, No More Guantánamos, North Carolina Stop Torture Now, PEN American Center and The World Organization for Human Rights USA.
The amicus brief in ACLU v. Department of Defense is available at www.rutherford.org.
“Secrecy in government undermines the very foundation of American freedoms,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “A free society is one in which there is government transparency, especially in cases relating to allegations of torture.”
The human rights coalition’s filed an amicus brief with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in ACLU v. Department of Defense, which relates to an effort by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to seek access under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to information regarding the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) use of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” including waterboarding. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had ruled that the CIA had authority under FOIA to withhold the information because it relates to “intelligence methods.” On appeal, the ACLU argued that the district court was wrong to rule that FOIA permits the CIA to withhold information about waterboarding, an interrogation technique that the United States has prosecuted as a war crime and that the President has declared to be unlawful. Because of this presidential declaration, the technique is outside the scope of the CIA’s charter and therefore cannot be considered a valid “intelligence method” eligible for withholding. In an amicus brief filed in support of the ACLU’s appeal, the human rights groups describe the CIA’s considerable history of carrying out illegal and improper activity in secret, as well as congressional efforts to prevent such activity. The brief argues that, in light of Congress’s decades-long effort to provide meaningful oversight of CIA activity, FOIA cannot bar the disclosure of information about unlawful actions such as waterboarding.
“The CIA has a long history of engaging in illegal or improper activity behind a shield of secrecy, something Congress has tried to deter through FOIA and other critical oversight legislation,” said Emily Berman, counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program. “Although secrecy may be necessary to protect legitimate methods of intelligence gathering, concealing illegal CIA conduct such as waterboarding subverts the rule of law and undermines our democratic process.”
