Recently, from Common Dreams
Obama 'Kill List,' Targeted Killings to Remain in the Shadows, Court RulesFederal court rejects Freedom Of Information request
- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
But the Judge did point out the problem:
Information surrounding the targeted killing of three American citizens by US drones in Yemen will remain secret for now, following a federal court decision to turn down a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU.
(Pete Souza/White House photo) The information, requested from the Department of Justice by the ACLU, includes a legal memorandum which allegedly gives legal and factual justification for the extrajudicial killings of U.S. citizens Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan in September 2011, and Al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son Abdulrahman in October 2011. Anwar Al-Awlaki was placed on Obama's executive "Kill List."
“This ruling denies the public access to crucial information about the government’s extrajudicial killing of U.S. citizens and also effectively green-lights its practice of making selective and self-serving disclosures,” said Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director. “As the judge acknowledges, the targeted killing program raises profound questions about the appropriate limits on government power in our constitutional democracy. The public has a right to know more about the circumstances in which the government believes it can lawfully kill people, including U.S. citizens, who are far from any battlefield and have never been charged with a crime.”
The President told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show this past fall that changes to the policy needed to be made to limit his power and that of future Presidents.
The Guardian
In October, Obama referred to efforts to codify the controversial drone programme. In an interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on 18 October, the president said: "One of the things we've got to do is put legal architecture in place and we need congressional help in order to do that, to make sure that not only am I reined in but any president is reined in, in terms of some of the decisions we're making".
This was a moment of transparency from the President when mostly the gov has been mostly secret and silent.
ACLU:
Targeted Killings
The CIA and the military are carrying out an illegal “targeted killing” program in which people far from any battlefield are determined to be enemies of the state and killed without charge or trial. The executive branch has, in effect, claimed the unchecked authority to put the names of citizens and others on “kill lists”on the basis of a secret determination, based on secret evidence, that a person meets a secret definition of the enemy.
The targeted killing program operates with virtually no oversight outside the executive branch, and essential details about the program remain secret, including what criteria are used to put people on CIA and military kill lists or how much evidence is required.
Hats off to the ACLU for pursuing this.
Hope they continue.
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