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Wednesday, June 18, 2003
The federal court of appeals in Washington D.C.
yesterday ruled the
Justice Department can secretly detain immigrants
without ever publicly
releasing their names, the reason for the arrests
or the names of their
attorneys.
The decision reverses a lower court ruling last
August that ordered the
government to make public the names of the
detainees and their lawyers.
The three-judge court ruled against a coalition
of more than 20 civil
liberties groups and other organizations who
invoked the Freedom of
Information Act to challenge the secret arrests.
The ruling also said the
government could keep secret the dates and
locations of the arrest,
detention and release of all the detainees.
For the first time in US history, a court has
approved secret arrests,
said Attorney Kate Martin.
Martin, who heads the Center for National
Security Studies, said her
organization and others in the case may appeal
the ruling. A coalition of
civil liberties groups had filed suit in order to
obtain the names of the
more than 750 immigrants who were secretly picked
up after Sept. 11.
A Washington Post editorial described the Court?s
move as a “dreadful
decision.”
Kate Martin, Director of the Center for National
Security Studies.
Link: Center for National Security Studies
Clajadep USA