[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 04/24/12
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Net-Gold -- Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold <Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MediaMentor <mediamentor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sean Grigsby <myarchives1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <NetGold_general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Lists -- Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports Tourism <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, HEALTH-RECREATION-SPORTS-TOURISM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:16:20 -0400 (EDT)
.
.
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:58:15 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 04/24/12
.
.
SECRECY NEWS
.
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy Volume 2012, Issue No. 38 April
24, 2012
.
.
Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
.
.
** REVIEW OF CIA INTERROGATION PROGRAM "NEARING COMPLETION"
** GOVT WANTS MORE TIME TO RESPOND TO CIA DRONE FOIA CASE
.
.
REVIEW OF CIA INTERROGATION PROGRAM "NEARING COMPLETION"
.
.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has been reviewing the post-9/11 detention
and interrogation practices of the Central Intelligence Agency for four
years and is still not finished. But the end appears to be in sight.
"The review itself is nearing completion -- before the end of summer -- but
is not over yet," a spokesperson for the Committee said. "The release date
should be not too far thereafter, but is not set."
"This review is the only comprehensive in-depth look at the facts and
documents pertaining to the creation, management, and effectiveness of the
CIA detention and interrogation program," according to Sen. Jay Rockefeller,
who was chairman of the Intelligence Committee when the review began in
2008.
Committee staff are said to have reviewed millions of pages of classified
documents pertaining to the CIA program.
In newly published questions for the record following his confirmation
hearing last year to be Director of the CIA, Gen. David Petraeus was asked
by Senator Rockefeller if he would cooperate with the Committee review.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2011_hr/petraeus-qfr.pdf
"I believe that a holistic and comprehensive review of the United States
Government's detention and interrogation programs can lead to valuable
lessons that might inform future policies," Petraeus replied.
"The best way to gain a common set of facts would be to reach out to the
intelligence and military communities responsible for detentions and
interrogations and for implementing future policies," he added. "[T]o gain
the proper insights from a series of actions or decisions, we cannot
separate the review process from the public servants undertaking the
actions," he said.
Gen. Petraeus also responded to questions concerning interrogation in the
"ticking time bomb" scenario (he says "research is required now"), and the
applicability of official U.S. government statements on the use of drones to
CIA operations (which he declined to confirm), among other topics.
His responses to these questions were published earlier this month in the
record of his June 23, 2011 confirmation hearing.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2011_hr/petraeus.pdf
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the current chair of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, provided a preview of the Committee's findings on CIA
interrogation practices in a November 29, 2011 floor statement during the
debate on the FY2012 defense authorization act.
"As chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, I can say that we are
nearing the completion a comprehensive review of the CIA's former
interrogation and detention program, and I can assure the Senate and the
Nation that coercive and abusive treatment of detainees in U.S. custody was
far more systematic and widespread than we thought," Sen. Feinstein said.
"Moreover, the abuse stemmed not from the isolated acts of a few bad apples
but from fact that the line was blurred between what is permissible and
impermissible conduct, putting U.S. personnel in an untenable position with
their superiors and the law."
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2011_cr/defauth.html
GOVT WANTS MORE TIME TO RESPOND TO CIA DRONE FOIA CASE
Government attorneys yesterday asked a court for an extension of time to
respond to two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits seeking disclosure of
records pertaining to "alleged targeted lethal operations" conducted by the
Central Intelligence Agency, including the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2012/04/doj042312.pdf
The attorneys' request seems to portend a possible change in the
government's persistent refusal to acknowledge the widely reported fact of
the CIA's use of drones in targeted killing operations.
"Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. has personally directed us to seek
this additional time to allow the Government to finalize its position with
regard to the sensitive national security matters presented in this case,"
the Justice Department attorneys told the judge.
"Given the significance of the matters presented in this case, the
Government's position is being deliberated at the highest level of the
Executive Branch."
At issue are two FOIA lawsuits brought by the New York Times and the
American Civil Liberties Union. The request for an extension until May 21,
2012 was granted by Judge Colleen McMahon.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has just released its 2011 report on FOIA
litigation and compliance.
http://www.justice.gov/oip/11introduction.html
Among other things, the report notes that the so-called "Glomar" response --
by which an agency refuses to confirm or deny the existence of responsive
records -- was invoked by the government in three cases that were decided in
2011. In each of those cases, the court ruled in favor of the government.
.
.
.
_______________________________________________
.
.
.
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html
To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html
OR email your request to saftergood@xxxxxxx
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
http://www.fas.org/member/donate_today.html
.
.
.
_______________________
.
.
.
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
.
.
Other related posts:
- » [net-gold] Secrecy News -- 04/24/12 - David P. Dillard
