ACLU Lawsuit Charges Feds With Hiding Information On Torture Of US Citizen

by Mark Schone for ABC News, view original article

August 18, 2010

The ACLU filed suit in federal court in California today to force the CIA, the FBI and other federal agencies to tell what they know about the alleged torture and detention of a U.S. citizen who was held in a secret prison in the UAE for months.

The suit claims that the federal government has ignored a Freedom of Information Act request filed six months ago that asked for information about the long-term surveillance of Naji Hamdan by the FBI, and his arrest, detention and alleged torture in the Emirates, which Hamdan claims included interrogation by an unidentified American.

"This suit seeks to shed light on the US government's practice of contracting with foreign governments to detain, interrogate and often torture individuals it suspects – rightly or wrongly – of having connections to terrorism, because the U.S. cannot lawfully engage in these tactics itself," said Jennie Pasquarella, an ACLU of Southern California staff attorney.

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