February 11, 2009 3:36 PM
- Text
Gov't: CIA Not Required To Save Tapes
(CBS/AP)
The CIA was not required to preserve videotapes of interrogations of terror suspects for a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union to learn more about U.S. treatment of detainees, government lawyers say in newly-released court papers.
In written arguments submitted in U.S. District Court, government lawyers say the CIA was not required to divulge any information from its operational records.
"The CIA therefore had no duty to preserve the videotapes due to the initiation of this lawsuit," the government said in court papers released publicly Friday.
ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said the government's arguments were "without merit," adding that the organization would file a formal response with the court Monday.
Last month, the ACLU asked a judge to find the CIA in contempt for destroying videotapes after a lawsuit it filed in 2004 to enforce a Freedom of Information Act request for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad.
The ACLU made the request after CIA Director Michael Hayden said the agency destroyed the videotapes in 2005. The tapes were made to document CIA use of new, harsh questioning techniques approved by the White House to force prisoners to talk.
In court papers dated Thursday, government lawyers said the videotapes were made as part of an internal review by the CIA of its terror suspect detention and interrogation program.
"Special reviews are akin to audits or inspections. Like audits or inspections, and unlike investigations, special reviews typically do not arise in response to allegations of CIA wrongdoing," the attorneys wrote.
The court should at least suspend its consideration of the ACLU request pending an investigation by the Department of Justice into the destruction of the tapes, the government lawyers said.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently appointed a prosecutor to conduct a criminal investigation and determine whether destroying the tapes amounted to obstruction of justice or violated any court orders.
The ACLU said the destruction of the tapes violated U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein's 2004 order to the CIA to produce or identify all records pertaining to the treatment of detainees in custody. The FOIA requests were filed by the ACLU and other organizations in October 2003 and May 2004.
In a statement from the CIA's Office of Inspector General, Constance E. Rea, Deputy Assistant Inspector General For Investigations, described a special review of the agency's terrorist detention and interrogation program beginning in January 2003 (three years before the program was publicly acknowledged by the president), which was intended to evaluate the program and "was not initiated in response to an allegation of wrongdoing."
"During the course of the special review, OIG was notified of the existence of videotapes of the interrogations of detainees. OIG arranged with the [National Clandestine Service] to review the videotapes at the overseas location where they were stored."
The Inspector General's office reviewed the videotapes at an overseas covert NCS facility in May 2003, but did not afterwards take custody of the tapes or make copies, and therefore, Rea said, they were not among the materials required to be passed on under the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
In written arguments submitted in U.S. District Court, government lawyers say the CIA was not required to divulge any information from its operational records.
"The CIA therefore had no duty to preserve the videotapes due to the initiation of this lawsuit," the government said in court papers released publicly Friday.
ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said the government's arguments were "without merit," adding that the organization would file a formal response with the court Monday.
Last month, the ACLU asked a judge to find the CIA in contempt for destroying videotapes after a lawsuit it filed in 2004 to enforce a Freedom of Information Act request for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad.
The ACLU made the request after CIA Director Michael Hayden said the agency destroyed the videotapes in 2005. The tapes were made to document CIA use of new, harsh questioning techniques approved by the White House to force prisoners to talk.
In court papers dated Thursday, government lawyers said the videotapes were made as part of an internal review by the CIA of its terror suspect detention and interrogation program.
"Special reviews are akin to audits or inspections. Like audits or inspections, and unlike investigations, special reviews typically do not arise in response to allegations of CIA wrongdoing," the attorneys wrote.
The court should at least suspend its consideration of the ACLU request pending an investigation by the Department of Justice into the destruction of the tapes, the government lawyers said.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently appointed a prosecutor to conduct a criminal investigation and determine whether destroying the tapes amounted to obstruction of justice or violated any court orders.
The ACLU said the destruction of the tapes violated U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein's 2004 order to the CIA to produce or identify all records pertaining to the treatment of detainees in custody. The FOIA requests were filed by the ACLU and other organizations in October 2003 and May 2004.
In a statement from the CIA's Office of Inspector General, Constance E. Rea, Deputy Assistant Inspector General For Investigations, described a special review of the agency's terrorist detention and interrogation program beginning in January 2003 (three years before the program was publicly acknowledged by the president), which was intended to evaluate the program and "was not initiated in response to an allegation of wrongdoing."
"During the course of the special review, OIG was notified of the existence of videotapes of the interrogations of detainees. OIG arranged with the [National Clandestine Service] to review the videotapes at the overseas location where they were stored."
The Inspector General's office reviewed the videotapes at an overseas covert NCS facility in May 2003, but did not afterwards take custody of the tapes or make copies, and therefore, Rea said, they were not among the materials required to be passed on under the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
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