State Secrets/C.I.A. Kidnappings/Whoops, Wrong Guy!
Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 5:26 am
More examples of Government secrecy and the slippery slope from democracy to police state. How long until we start hearing about American citizens being snatched off the streets of American cities?
In December of 2003 Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen, was kidnapped in Macedonia by the Central Intelligence Agency. After being beaten and accused of being a member of Al Qaeda he was put on a plane and flown to a secret prison where he was beaten, drugged, and interrogated on a regular basis. He was held for five months without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family. When the C.I.A. realized that they were holding the wrong man they dropped him off by himself, without an apology or funds to return home, on an abandoned road in Albania.
Late last year a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU against the C.I.A. on Khaled El-Masri's behalf. Last week the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case under the State Secrets Privilege. Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled that holding the proceedings would jeopardize state secrets.
The C.I.A. has not confirmed or denied the allegations, basically what they have said is that it does not matter if it is true or false because the case itself will jeopardize national security and must be dismissed. The German government is currently conducting an ongoing criminal and parliamentary investigation into the involvement of the C.I.A. and the German Government in the kidnapping of Mr. El-Masri. On December 5 2005 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the United States had acknowledged holding El-Masri in error.
It is important to note that the case of Sibel Edmonds was dismissed on the grounds of state secrets. Sibel Edmonds was a translator at the FBI who was fired after reporting what she believed to be shoddy security practices.
The government also cited state secrets in the case of Maher Arar, a Syrian and Canadian citizen who said he was detained while transiting through New York's Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 and flown to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. He eventually was released and never charged with a crime.
In the San Francisco invasion-of-privacy suit, brought by the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a judge has set a June date for arguments on the government's secrets claim.
The suit charges that AT&T gave the NSA access to databases of domestic and international Internet and telephone records without obtaining prior court approval.
What was once a rarely used tool has become the weapon of choice used by the administration to protect its secret programs. All told, the administration has asserted the privilege at least six times since 2001.
I think all Americans will agree that the security of our nation is important, but where will this end? Is all of this really necessary? How long until we start hearing about American citizens being snatched off the streets of American cities? How long will we continue to turn a blind eye?
If you care about this stuff please spread the word and stay informed.
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Sources and further reading.
Democracy Now interview with Mr. El-Masri's attorney.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl? ... 25/1413214
Chicago Tribune on State Secrets Privilege (free subscription required)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... &cset=true
Washington Post on El-Masri's case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02107.html
ACLU on Sibel Edmonds and State Secrets
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/18 ... 50126.html
In December of 2003 Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen, was kidnapped in Macedonia by the Central Intelligence Agency. After being beaten and accused of being a member of Al Qaeda he was put on a plane and flown to a secret prison where he was beaten, drugged, and interrogated on a regular basis. He was held for five months without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family. When the C.I.A. realized that they were holding the wrong man they dropped him off by himself, without an apology or funds to return home, on an abandoned road in Albania.
Late last year a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU against the C.I.A. on Khaled El-Masri's behalf. Last week the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case under the State Secrets Privilege. Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled that holding the proceedings would jeopardize state secrets.
The C.I.A. has not confirmed or denied the allegations, basically what they have said is that it does not matter if it is true or false because the case itself will jeopardize national security and must be dismissed. The German government is currently conducting an ongoing criminal and parliamentary investigation into the involvement of the C.I.A. and the German Government in the kidnapping of Mr. El-Masri. On December 5 2005 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the United States had acknowledged holding El-Masri in error.
It is important to note that the case of Sibel Edmonds was dismissed on the grounds of state secrets. Sibel Edmonds was a translator at the FBI who was fired after reporting what she believed to be shoddy security practices.
The government also cited state secrets in the case of Maher Arar, a Syrian and Canadian citizen who said he was detained while transiting through New York's Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 and flown to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. He eventually was released and never charged with a crime.
In the San Francisco invasion-of-privacy suit, brought by the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a judge has set a June date for arguments on the government's secrets claim.
The suit charges that AT&T gave the NSA access to databases of domestic and international Internet and telephone records without obtaining prior court approval.
What was once a rarely used tool has become the weapon of choice used by the administration to protect its secret programs. All told, the administration has asserted the privilege at least six times since 2001.
I think all Americans will agree that the security of our nation is important, but where will this end? Is all of this really necessary? How long until we start hearing about American citizens being snatched off the streets of American cities? How long will we continue to turn a blind eye?
If you care about this stuff please spread the word and stay informed.
----------------------------
Sources and further reading.
Democracy Now interview with Mr. El-Masri's attorney.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl? ... 25/1413214
Chicago Tribune on State Secrets Privilege (free subscription required)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... &cset=true
Washington Post on El-Masri's case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02107.html
ACLU on Sibel Edmonds and State Secrets
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/18 ... 50126.html
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