Anwar Al-Awlaki - FOIA Request
On October 19, 2011, the ACLU submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking information about the targeted killings of three U.S. citizens in Yemen: Anwar al-Awlaki; his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki; and Samir Khan.
The request seeks disclosure of the legal memorandum written by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel that provided justifications for the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, as well as records describing the factual basis for the killings of all three Americans.
After the government failed to release records, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the CIA, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice in February 2012. The government continues to refuse to confirm or deny whether the CIA conducts targeted killings at all, or whether the U.S. was responsible for the killings of these three American citizens. The ACLU argues that the government’s response is not lawful because senior officials have already publicly acknowledged the targeted killing program. In January 2013 the judge dismissed most of the lawsuit, and the ACLU appealed that decision in April 2013.
![Guantánamo by the Numbers [Infographic]](https://d3h9au4afozpag.cloudfront.net/files/imagecache/content_infographics_block/mm_images/cg_infographic.jpg "Guantánamo by the Numbers [Infographic]")
