[DEBATE] : US Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuit on Secret Flights

[Riaz K. Tayob]

     US Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuit on Secret Flights
     By Adam Tanner
     Reuters

     Friday 19 October 2007

     The U.S. government asked a federal court late on Friday to dismiss 
a lawsuit against a unit of Boeing Co that charges the firm helped fly 
suspects abroad to secret prisons.

     "Allowing plaintiffs' claims to proceed would risk the disclosure 
of highly classified information concerning the alleged 'intelligence 
activities, sources, and methods' of the CIA," said the filing, signed 
by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bucholtz.

     The American Civil Liberties Union first filed a complaint in May 
accusing Jeppesen Dataplan Inc of providing flight and logistical 
support to at least 15 aircraft on 70 "extraordinary-rendition" flights.

     The complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District 
of California alleged Jeppesen "falsified flight plans to European air 
traffic control authorities to avoid public scrutiny of CIA flights."

     The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of five men who say the CIA had 
them flown to foreign prisons for interrogations and torture.

     In its response on Friday, the U.S. government asked the judge to 
dismiss the case or issue a summary judgment in its favor.

     "Although the President and other officials have acknowledged that 
the CIA operates a terrorist detention and interrogation program 
("program"), these officials have specifically refused to confirm or 
deny any operational details concerning that program," it said.

     Those details "include whether any private entities or other 
countries assisted the CIA in conducting the program; the dates and 
locations of any detentions and interrogations; the methods of 
interrogation employed in the program; and the names of any individuals 
detained and interrogated by the CIA (other than fifteen individuals 
whose identities have been divulged so that they can be brought to trial)."

     All of those details are secret and central to the case, and so 
cannot be litigated, the government argued.

     In response, the ACLU said the victims of the program deserved 
their day in court.

     "The whole world knows about the U.S. 'extraordinary rendition' 
program and the government's invocation of 'state secrets' in this case 
is just another cynical attempt by the administration to cover up an 
illegal and immoral program," said ACLU lawyer Steven Watt.