The Honorable John Ashcroft
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We are writing to express our concern regarding the lack of information provided by the Department of Justice about the hundreds of individuals who have been arrested and detained since September 11th, and by the apparently unprecedented use of secret proceedings, gag orders and material witness warrants as part of the government’s investigation of the September 11th terrorist attacks. We are also deeply troubled by the growing number of reports that at least some detainees have been impeded in their ability to contact lawyers and family members. We are compelled to rely on press reports in significant part because of the lack of official information from the government. These reports, if accurate, raise fundamental due process issues that we hope the Department will promptly address.
According to a front-page story in The Washington Post on October 15th, for example, at least some of those detained have apparently had only “limited access” to lawyers and no contact with their families. In an October 15th article, the Los Angeles Times reported that immigration officials in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana “cut off” all lawyer visits and phone calls for detainees for a full week after the attacks, apparently based on a misunderstood directive. And according to today’s Los Angeles Times, four more cases have “surfaced in which young men allegedly are being kept from their attorneys and confined in jails without proper food or protection.” An earlier Washington Post story indicated that as many as 400 of those detained have been cleared of any connection to terrorist activity; yet, the government was apparently unwilling to disclose how many of those are still in detention.
The ACLU recognizes that some aspects of this important investigation are necessarily and appropriately confidential. However, in our view, that does not include such basic facts as the number of people in jail, the basis on which they are being held, and the scope of any secrecy orders that have been entered. Specifically, we believe the following information can and should be released to assure the American public that the government’s investigation is both thorough and fair. Furthermore, this information can and should be updated on a regular basis.
We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Anthony Romero
ACLU Executive Director
Steven R. Shapiro
ACLU Legal Director
Lucas Guttentag
Director, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project
cc: Robert Mueller, Director of FBI
James Ziglar, Commissioner of INS
Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington National Office
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