ACLU Comment on Trump Administration's Report on Civilians It Killed Abroad

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration today made public a declassified version of a Congressionally-mandated report on the number of civilians it killed abroad through its lethal force program.

Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, issued the following statement in response:

“The administration failed to comply with Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements in a clear effort to conceal from the American public the true toll of its lethal strikes abroad. These numbers simply are not credible. As the Trump administration doubles down on the secrecy of its killing of civilians abroad, Congress needs to continue exercising its oversight power. The civilian victims, their families, and the American public deserve greater transparency and accountability.”

Congress requires the administration produce an annual report on civilian casualties caused as a result of U.S. military operations during the preceding year. The report must detail, among other items, all military operations that were confirmed – or reasonably suspected – to have resulted in civilian casualties, and identify whether the operations occurred inside or outside of a declared theater of active armed conflict.