Government Files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq Released

[babsbunny]

Government Files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq Released

The ACLU filed a request on Oct. 7, 2003, under the Freedom of Information Act demanding the release of information about detainees held overseas by the United States.

Go to www.aclu.org/civiliancasualties to learn more and search the documents released by the government.

In the News: Read yesterday's front page New York Times story on the ACLU FOIA documents and the toll of war.


Since U.S. troops first set foot in Afghanistan in 2001, the Defense Department has gone to unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human costs of war. But documents made public by the ACLU this week provide a vivid window into the lives of innocent Afghans and Iraqis caught in conflict zones.

Hundreds of claims for damages by family members of civilians killed by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan were recovered through a Freedom of Information Act request filed in June 2006. The claims and related materials highlight the cost of government efforts to suppress information, through policies including:

Banning photographers on U.S. military bases from covering the arrival of caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers killed overseas;

Paying Iraqi journalists to write positive accounts of the U.S. war effort;

Inviting U.S. journalists to “embed” with military units but requiring them to submit their stories to the military for pre-publication review;

Erasing journalists’ footage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, and

Refusing to disclose statistics on civilian casualties.
In Afghanistan in March 2002, then-head of U.S. Central Command General Tommy Franks said “You know we don’t do body counts.” Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in November 2003, “We don’t do body counts on other people.”

The ACLU released a total of 496 files: 479 from Iraq and 17 from Afghanistan. Of those claims, 198 were denied based on an exemption for combat situations. The documents released by the ACLU are available online in a searchable database at: www.aclu.org/civiliancasualties.

In one file, a civilian from the Salad Ad Din province in eastern Iraq states that U.S. forces opened fire with over one hundred rounds on his sleeping family, killing his mother, father and brother.

“Although these files are deeply disturbing to read, they allow us to understand the human cost of war in a way that the usual statistics and platitudes do not" said Jameel Jaffer, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s National Security Program.

In a separate effort, the ACLU filed a FOIA request in October 2003 for records concerning the abuse of prisoners held by U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay. That request has resulted in the release of more than 100,000 pages, all of which are available online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia. Litigation regarding that request is ongoing.
The Real Face of Real ID

>;>VIDEO
A new Freedom Files video short explains the problems with the Real ID Act through the problems experienced by one Chicago man.

>;>MAP
A map showing the status of anti-Real ID legislation in each state is online at: realnightmare.org/news/105

>;>TAKE ACTION
Find out what action you can take in your state at: realnightmare.org/actioncenter/15

If your local DMV already feels like a bureaucratic nightmare, hang on, because it may be getting worse. If the government’s new Real ID rules come to your state, you can count on longer lines, worse services, bureaucratic snarls and higher fees. And a national ID card that will invade our privacy.

Get a firsthand look at all this in a special Freedom Files video short. The piece features Bill Cattorini, a retired Chicago fireman who has been caught in a bureaucratic limbo due to a discrepancy between his birth date as listed on his driver’s license and the date on his social security card. That was never an issue until Illinois began trying to comply with some parts of Real ID. Now Cattorini can’t drive.

A battle over Real ID is now raging in state legislatures across the nation, with a growing number of states rebelling against this expensive (and unfunded) scheme. Already Maine and Idaho have declared that they won’t comply, and many other states are quickly moving toward similar actions. Watch the new Freedom Files video and find out more about Real ID at www.aclu.tv/realid

As Un-American Military Commissions Resume, ACLU Monitors at Guantánamo Bay

>;>BLOG
Staff Attorney Ben Wizner was in Guantánamo Bay witnessing the first proceedings of the new flawed military commissions. The ACLU continues to call for the closure of the facility and the restoration of due process.

>;>TAKE ACTION
Contact your Members of Congress right now and tell them to close the prison at Guantánamo.


As the Guantánamo Bay military commission proceedings commenced under new, flawed rules, the ACLU reiterated the call to close Gitmo and return to a legal system in line with the Constitution and the right to due process.

The ACLU is one of four organizations that have been granted status as human rights observers at the military commission proceedings.

After two Supreme Court decisions rejected the Bush administration's detention policies at the facility, the legal status of the detainees there remains unresolved.

Already, several measures have been introduced in Congress to fix the Military Commissions Act. The ACLU is urging Congress to enact both measures. The "Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007" (H.R.1416/S.185) would restore habeas corpus for those detained by the American government. The "Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007" (H.R. 1415/S. 576) would also reinstate habeas rights and clarify the definition of "enemy combatants." Additionally, it would block the federal government from making up its own rules on torture and abuse. Ask your Members of Congress to support these bills.

The ACLU has also continued to hold government leadership accountable by litigating a Freedom of Information Act request for documents concerning the treatment of prisoners held in U.S. custody. So far, more than 100,000 pages of government documents detailing the torture and abuse of detainees have been released.

Learn more about the deep flaws in the Military Commissions Act and the threats to habeas corpus rights at: www.aclu.org/habeas.





After Stunning Internal Report, Congress Moves to Act on FBI Patriot Abuses

Congresswoman Jane Harman of California, Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence.


Since the Justice Department revealed serious FBI abuses of the Patriot Act’s “National Security Letter“ (NSL) provisions, momentum has been building in Congress for real oversight and a full overhaul of the NSL rules.

Congresswoman Jane Harman of California, Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, has introduced legislation to rein in the National Security Letter authority expanded by the Patriot Act. Her move follows a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing where members grilled government witnesses on the recent revelations that the FBI abused the NSL authority. Many members of the Intelligence hearing, Democratic and Republican alike, believe the law regarding NSLs should be changed.

The Patriot Act includes dangerous expansions to the government’s "National Security Letter" authority, which allows the FBI to demand records without prior court approval. Anyone who receives an NSL is forbidden, or "gagged," from telling anyone about the record demand. Since the Patriot Act was authorized in 2001, there has been an astronomical increase in NSL demands. While reports previously indicated a hundred-fold increase to 30,000 NSLs issued annually, an extraordinary March 2007 report from the Justice Department's own Inspector General puts the actual number at over 143,000 NSLs issued between 2003 and 2005. The same investigation also found serious FBI abuses of regulations and numerous potential violations of the law.

Harman’s legislation would require a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Judge or designated United States Magistrate Judge to approve the issuance of an NSL. It would also require the attorney general to submit semiannual reports on NSLs to Congress.

"The IG’s findings are clear evidence that the FBI’s leadership turned a blind eye to a pattern of willful indifference to the law and Congress needs to put proper checks and balances into the vast NSL power, said Timothy D. Sparapani, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. “The Constitution and our laws are not merely advisory, but this administration has treated them as such."

>;>Read more about NSLs and take action



FCC Proposal Attacks Free Speech

According to press reports, the FCC will soon recommend that television violence be regulated the same way indecency is regulated, meaning no violent content could air between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on broadcast channels. There is even some discussion of expanding the prohibitions to cable and satellite channels. If Congress acts upon the FCC recommendations, it would be a full frontal attack on the First Amendment.

The FCC’s effort to lay the groundwork for regulation of television violence could violate every American’s right to free speech.

These recommendations are a naked political ploy. How would violence be counted--in drops of blood? Would the producers of a show like 24 be forced to change the show’s subject matter? Would Saving Private Ryan be relegated to the wee hours of the morning because of its depiction of the brutality of war? The ACLU thinks that government should allow parents to make decisions about what is best for their families to watch.

Parents already have the tools to help them monitor and control what their children watch on television. Parents can block channels or programs, use the V-chip, record and review appropriate programs, or just turn off the television. Additionally, there are several web sites that rate television programming to help parents evaluate appropriate programs for their children.

Oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to regulate violence on television. Take action now.



The Third Annual Stand Up for Freedom Contest
If you’re between the ages of 17 and 29, we want you to produce a video PSA or a podcast about how the government is abusing its power. Make it funny, slam it, turn it into a documentary—this is your chance to make some noise about the news that bugs you. StandUp. Get creative. www.aclu.org/standup.



StandUp Comics: A Legal Guide to the War on Terror
In the latest installment of StandUp comics, Matt Bors illustrates the new rules on policing terror and Geneva-free destinations. Read it. E-mail it to friends. Print it out. Post it everywhere.

> Vote for the ACLU on the Working Assets Donations Ballot!
The more votes you give us, the more money we get. It's that simple. Working Assets offers long distance, wireless and credit card services that donate a portion of customers' charges to progressive organizations, at no extra cost. Since 1985, Working Assets has raised over $50 million for worthy groups like ours.