ACLU Applauds Rumsfeld’s Resignation, Calls for Immediate Investigation Into Dereliction of Duty
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
NEW YORK -- The American
Civil Liberties Union today applauded Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation from his
post as Defense Secretary, and called on Congress to investigate the gross abuse
of power committed under his watch.
"Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation is a step
in the right direction," said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director.
"Rumsfeld is responsible for the torture and abuse of detainees in U. S.
military custody and must be held accountable for the failures that occurred on
his watch. He has placed the blame on junior military members and has been
nothing but derelict in his duty. Congress must initiate an immediate and
exhaustive investigation into his six-year-long record of unlawful activity,
violations of the rule of law and complicity in the executive branch abuse of
power."
As a result of the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, more
than 100,000 pages of government documents have been released detailing the
torture and abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay. In March
2005, the ACLU and Human Rights First filed the first federal lawsuit naming
Rumsfeld and other top U.S. officials in the ongoing torture scandal in Iraq and
Afghanistan that has tarnished America's reputation. A hearing in that case, Ali
v. Rumsfeld, is scheduled for December 8. In June 2006, the Supreme Court in
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruled that the Bush administration policy on detention,
orchestrated by Rumsfeld, was illegal.
The ACLU has also filed a lawsuit to
uncover details of Pentagon surveillance of peace groups and law-abiding
Americans who have attended anti-war protests. The documents obtained by the
ACLU reveal that the Pentagon shared information on activists with other
government agencies through the Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON)
database, which was intended to track groups or individuals with links to
terrorism.
For more information on the torture lawsuit, go to www.aclu.org/rumsfeld
For information
on Pentagon surveillance, go to www.aclu.org/spyfiles