NEW YORK, Dec 24: A prominent national civil rights and advocacy group announced on Friday the filing of a petition under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking access to all government records relating to President Bush’s post-9/11 executive orders authorizing electronic surveillance of Americans without obtaining court approval.
The Washington-based Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed the FOIA request with the CIA, the Department of Defence, the Department of Justice and the FBI.
The CAIR noted media reports indicate that in some cases, the secret surveillance program intercepted purely domestic communications, despite White House assurances that at least one end of the intercepted communications was overseas.
In the request, CAIR asked for ‘records concerning the authority of President Bush to delegate or personally authorize electronic surveillance without obtaining a court order as required by FISA’ and ‘any lists of natural persons, both American and foreign nationals who have been or are currently being eavesdropped without proper FISA approval’.
“It is the duty of all those who value the constitution to state that no one, not even a president, is above the law,” said CAIR Director Arsalan Iftikhar.
“President Bush’s wiretapping policy is not only an apparent violation of existing law, it also gives carte blanche for spying, without legal oversight, on any American,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Such wide-ranging and unrestricted powers are an invitation to abuse of constitutional rights and freedoms, and should be of concern to everyone in a society based on respect for the law.”
