No change: Obama sticks to Bush line
Updated on 10 February 2009
Justice department lawyers have been allowed to invoke the same secrecy laws used by the Bush White House, writes Felicity Spector.
For those who hoped for change, disappointing news from San Francisco.
At a federal appeals court case in the city lawyers from the Justice department have slapped a 'state secret privilege' request on the lawsuit brought on behalf of Binyam Mohammed, a UK resident being held in Guantanamo Bay, and three others.
The defendants say they were victims of the CIA's 'extraordinary rendition' and they are trying to bring a case against a subsidiary of Boeing, Jeppeson Dataplan, claiming it knowingly provided the CIA with the aircraft used to carry terror suspects to third countries where they were likely to be tortured.
The original lawsuit, brought by the ACLU, was dismissed a year ago. This is the appeal.
The US secrecy laws have not been reviewed for fifty years. High time then, for review say those looking for proof that change is more than just a campaign slogan.
The ACLU says most of the evidence in the case is already in the public domain and concerns over America's apparent reluctance to allow a document in a related case to be revealed in the British High court have been well publicised.
They are disappointed that Justice department lawyers have been allowed to invoke the same secrecy laws used by the Bush White House - more often, in fact, than any previous administration.
Now the ACLU has written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to clarify the position on the Binyam Mohammed appeal case, saying "The latest revelation is completely at odds with President Obama's executive orders that ban torture and end rendition, as well as his promise to restore the rule of law."
The US secrecy laws have not been reviewed for fifty years. High time then, for review say those looking for proof that change is more than just a campaign slogan.
