|
|
Home :
Safe and Free
:
Surveillance
ACLU of Ohio Launches Investigation into Defense Department Spying on Quakers and Peace Activists (1/26/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
CLEVELAND- The
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today said that it is investigating
documented spying by the Department of Defense on two Northeast Ohio peace
groups.
The Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee
(NOAFSC) and the Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition (NOAC) both appeared on a
document detailing groups that were being watched by the Counterintelligence
Field Activity (CIFA), a division of the Department of
Defense.
"Both of these groups were engaging in First Amendment
protected activities, yet were spied on simply because they expressed views
counter to the government," said Jeff Gamso, Legal Director of the ACLU of
Ohio. "This type of surveillance is contrary to American values and
hearkens back to the illegal government spying conducted during the Vietnam War
and the McCarthy era."
In December 2005, NBC National News leaked
the eight-page document that led to the investigation. The leaked document, only
eight out of four hundred pages, showed government surveillance of peace groups
all over the country, including NOAFSC in Akron and NOAC in
Cleveland.
The ACLU of Ohio issued records requests to CIFA, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cleveland Police Department and the Akron
Police Department seeking any information on NOAFSC, NOAC, the ACLU of Ohio, and
select individuals within those organizations.
As part of the
investigation, the ACLU of Ohio asked for records on itself because NOAC holds
regular meetings in the ACLU office in Cleveland. The ACLU of Ohio offices are
open to many people throughout the community to utilize as a meeting space.
Various groups including Cleveland Public Theatre and Case Western Reserve
University have used this space in the past, according to the
ACLU.
"As the defenders of the Constitution, we are deeply troubled
that illegal surveillance of law-abiding Americans could be happening in our own
building," said Gamso.
The investigation was launched only days
after the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the National Security Agency seeking to
stop a secret electronic surveillance program that allows the NSA to monitor and
collect e-mails and phone calls from innocent Americans without court approval.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of prominent journalists, scholars,
attorneys and national nonprofit organizations who frequently communicate by
phone and e-mail with people in the Middle East. The lawsuit seeks a court
order declaring that the spying is illegal and ordering its immediate and
permanent halt. More information is available online at www.aclu.org/nsaspying
The ACLU has
also filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the FBI in 20 states on
behalf of more than 150 organizations and individuals. In response, the
government has released documents that reveal FBI monitoring and infiltration by
the FBI and local law enforcement, targeting political, environmental, anti-war
and faith-based groups. All the documents received to date are available
online at www.aclu.org/spyfiles
|
|
|
