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CCR And ACLU Receive License From OFAC To Pursue Challenge To Targeted Killing

Case: ACLU and CCR v. Geithner
August 4, 2010 5:39 pm
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) today received a license from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) allowing the groups to pursue their legal challenge to the government’s asserted authority to kill American citizens without due process away from conflict zones. The license was granted in response to a lawsuit filed by the groups demanding the license and challenging OFAC’s scheme.

The following can be attributed to CCR and the ACLU:

“The license issued by OFAC today will allow us to pursue our litigation relating to the government’s asserted authority to engage in targeted killings of American civilians without due process. While we appreciate OFAC’s quick response to our lawsuit, we continue to believe that OFAC’s regulations are unconstitutional because they require lawyers who are providing uncompensated legal representation to seek the government’s permission before challenging the constitutionality of the government’s conduct. Notably, OFAC has indicated that the license issued to us today can be revoked at any time. We will pursue our claim that OFAC’s attorney-licensing regulations are unconstitutional and should be invalidated.”

More information about the case is available online at: www.aclu.org/ofac and www.ccrjustice.org/targetedkillings.

ACLU and CCR v. Geithner

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) is responsible for implementing the government’s activities with regard to freezing foreign assets belonging to certain designated individuals. While these measures are an important part of a variety of U.S. sanctions regimes, they create large potential for abuse. In particular, OFAC claims the power to prevent any designated person – including U.S. citizens – from retaining a lawyer without first obtaining a license from the government. The ACLU believes that OFAC does not have the authority to prevent individuals from retaining and being representing by a lawyer, especially when that lawyer is not being compensated (and therefore is not being paid out of “frozen” assets). ACLU v. Geithner is a constitutional challenge to these rules.

Source: American Civil Liberties Union

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