tagged w/ CCR
-
U.S. Victim’s Father Hopes Documents May Shed Light on Son’s Killing
CONTACT: press@ccrjustice.org
May 24, 20011, Washington, D.C. – The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) today launched a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking immediate release of documents that the United States government has refused to provide regarding its knowledge of and role in the deadly May 31, 2010 attack by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Among the nine civilians killed was 18-year-old U.S. citizen Furkan Doğan who was shot several times as he was filming the 4:00 a.m. raid, and then shot in the face at point blank range as he lay there wounded. Fifteen other U.S. citizens participated in the flotilla, including five who traveled on a U.S. registered boat; many were beaten and injured.
Said Professor Ahmet Doğan, father of Furkan, “I have travelled twice to Washington, D.C. seeking answers and support in my efforts to achieve justice and accountability for my son’s killing. So far, my efforts have not been successful. I call upon the United States government to at least release information related to the flotilla attack and what it knows about my son’s death. Why isn’t the United States investigating the death of a U.S. citizen in this case?”
The federal lawsuit, Center for Constitutional Rights v. Department of Defense, et al was filed in the Southern District of New York against the Defense Department as well as numerous other federal departments, including Justice and State, and various components of the U.S. military. The initial FOIA requests were filed nearly 11 months ago: only two agencies responded, and their responses were wholly inadequate, according to the suit.
“One year after the deadly attack on the humanitarian flotilla, the American public has been told nothing about what actions, if any, the United States undertook to ensure that U.S. citizens and other civilians were protected when they sailed towards Gaza,” said Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney, Katherine Gallagher. “A U.S. citizen was killed and the U.S. has not conducted an independent investigation into his killing in international waters by a foreign military. Indeed, the State Department did not even mention the killing of Furkan Doğan in its recently released Human Rights report on Israel. We need to know what our government is doing to protect us – and hold those to account who harm U.S. citizens.”
The attack by Israeli commandos took place in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea against a six-boat humanitarian flotilla headed to Gaza with more than 700 civilian passengers. One of the ships was registered in the U.S. The flotilla sought to bring food and other humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza, who have been living under an Israeli blockade for nearly five years.
Commandos seized the property of U.S. citizens, including a video camera that recorded the raid, and Israel continues to retain control of this property. The Center for Constitutional Rights is seeking communications from and to the U.S. agencies named in the lawsuit that relate to the preservation of evidence that might shed light on the death of Furkan Doğan. The Center further seeks any documents that could show what steps the Department of State, Department of Justice and other agencies have taken to ensure that Furkan’s death be properly and independently investigated. The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission concluded that the refusal of Israel to return this personal property is, “a deliberate attempt by the Israeli authorities to suppress or destroy evidence and other information related to the events of 31 May.” The full UN report can be viewed here (PDF).(Link for file and more at source ) http;//figrd.blogspot.com (for pic only)U.S. Victim’s Father Hopes Documents May Shed Light on Son’s Killing... more
-
-
-
The ACLU recently warned that the Obama Administration was in danger of establishing a "New Normal" by continuing with the WORST policies of the Bush administration.
This includes monitoring our internet use, the recent legalization of what was previously illegal wiretapping, and yet another extension of the police-state loving USAPATRIOT act. Guantanamo bay is still open in blatant violation of international law, 9 years after September 11th.
But now, Obama has exceeded Bush in terms of police-state douchebaggery.
The Bush administration never claimed to have the authority to assassinate US citizens.
The Obama administration, however, has.
And the left has largely been quiet about this. Well hopefully, the left will finally wipe the post-election confetti out of their eyes and wake up to what's really going on in their country. With their president.
The ACLU along with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) recently filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration challenging this very claim to authority, on the behalf of the father of an assassination target- and U.S. Citizen.
Or they would have, that is, except for this legal manuver by the US government. From Glenn Greenwald:
...regulations promulgated several years ago by the Treasury Department prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with individuals labeled by the Government as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," and those regulations specifically bar lawyers from providing legal services to such individuals without a special "license" from the Treasury Department specifically allowing such representation."
So it turns out that the Treasury Dept stepped in two weeks after the suit was filed to label Anwar al-Awalaki a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" which one can only assume was specifically done by the Obama administration to block the suit against them, and retain the authority to assassinate US Citizens.
Well, in response to that, the ACLU has filed a suit agains the US Treasury and Timothy Geithner, saying, that the entire thing is insanely unconstitutional-- that the US Treasury has no constitutional authority to designate people as terrorists, that the US Government has no right to deny US Citizens access to a lawyer.
If the ACLU and CCR lose this case, we're going to be living in a nation where the government can legally pick out "problem citizens" and kill them on sight. Which is actually the country we're living in right now.
If this doesn't bother you, if this doesn't send up a red flag in the pit of your soul that says, "this is incredibly fucked" then maybe it's because you've already adjusted your psyche to accept the New Normal.
(full post with links to supporting articles after the jump)The ACLU recently warned that the Obama Administration was in danger of establishing a... more
-
-
asherp
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
GO TO THE PAGE, THERE ARE TWO (2) VIDEOS!!!!!!_______________
Last week, the Center for Constitutional Rights went to court to fight the Bush administration's post-9/11 racial profiling and round-ups of hundreds of immigrant Muslim, Arab, and South Asian men in the New York area.
Click here to watch a video of CCR attorney Rachel Meeropol and lead plaintiff Ibrahim Turkmen talking about the case.
We argued the appeal in our case,
Turkmen v. Ashcroft, which is an important legal challenge to the government's abuse of power in fighting the so-called "war on terror."
In actions reminiscent of the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the months after 9/11 our government rounded up and detained hundreds of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian immigrants to determine whether they had any ties to terrorism.
Held on the pretext of minor immigration violations, these men were kept in super-maximum security confinement and abused for months as their deportation was delayed so that the FBI could investigate them.
Often the men were picked up on evidence no more specific than a phone call to the authorities in which someone said, "my neighbor is an Arab and keeps strange hours."
Click here to read more about the abuse they suffered while detained and other details of the case.
The men weren't detained because there was evidence connecting them to terrorism—they were swept up and detained because of their race, religion, and ethnicity. Because they were Arab and Muslim men of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent, they were presumed guilty of terrorism until proven innocent.
In 2002, we filed Turkmen v. Ashcroft, a class action suit on behalf of the men held in New York and New Jersey, against the United States and 31 government officials and employees, including then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and former INS Commissioner James Ziglar.
A lower court judge ruled in our favor on many of the charges, including keeping the high-level officials on the hook for what happened, so last Thursday's arguments were a cross appeal by both sides.
More than five years after the case was filed, and long after all the men have been deported to their home countries, CCR continues to demand accountability for the racial profiling and indiscriminate detentions that followed in the wake of 9/11.
We await a ruling from the panel of judges and hope that it will bring our clients one step closer to justice. Please go here to watch a video and learn more about this important case.
Sincerely,
Vincent Warren
CCR Executive Director
GO TO THE PAGE, THERE ARE TWO (2) VIDEOS!!!!!!_______________
Last week, the Center... more
-
