No-Fly List Raises Civil-Liberty Concerns
Aug 10, 4:24 PM (ET)
By DAVID KRAVETS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Sept. 11 Commission wants the government to expand
the no-fly list airlines now check to keep suspected terrorists off planes,
consolidating as many as 12 secret lists maintained by different
intelligence agencies.
That worries the American Civil Liberties Union, which has already sued the
government, saying the airlines' effort to keep terror suspects and other
dangerous people off planes ensnares innocent passengers and subjects them
to unnecessary searches and delays. Also, the government provides no way for
those wrongly named to get themselves removed.
"Right now, if you're on the list, you're in a no-fly jail. There is now way
out of this," said Barry Steinhardt, the director of the ACLU's Technology
and Liberty Project.
Commissioners agree the government has a "definite interest" in ensuring the
protection of passengers' civil liberties as well as their safety. Their
report, however, didn't spell out how the government should improve its
checks and balances for the watch lists.
In lawsuits filed in San Francisco and Seattle, the ACLU has demanded the
government explain how wrongly flagged travelers - usually targeted because
they have names similar to those on the list - can get off it. The ACLU also
wants to know how many people are on the list.
"They have to make the best efforts to make sure it's accurate and has to
have a procedure to make sure people mistakenly identified can get off the
list," Steinhardt said.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who privately reviewed the government's
"sensitive" data, ordered the government in June to further explain why it
hasn't disclosed certain documents in response to the ACLU's Freedom of
Information Act request.
Breyer said the government has refused to say why the number of people on
the list should not be disclosed. He also wonders why the government
classified its procedure for adding names to the list as "non-disclosable
sensitive security information."
"In many instances, the government has not come close to meeting its burden,
and, in some cases, has made frivolous claims of exemption," Breyer wrote.
Authorities have repeatedly refused comment on Breyer's ruling or questions
about the no-fly list.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Transportation Security
Administration and other agencies cite security concerns for not publicly
disclosing to the ACLU why two of the group's clients - peace activists who
publish a magazine critical of the Bush administration - were detained at
San Francisco International Airport. The two believe they were wrongly
detained because their names popped up in the database.
The agencies even blacked out names of government officials in charge of the
list, including the FBI employee responsible for responding to inquiries
from the public regarding names appearing on the list.
President Bush last year authorized the FBI to establish the consolidated
database the commission recommends be used at airports. Homeland Security
Director Tom Ridge, when announcing the creation of the still unfinished
mega-database last year, said "the job of the new Terrorist Screening Center
is to make sure we get this information out to our agents on the borders and
all those who can put it to use on the front lines."
The Sept. 11 Commission urged that the government take over pre-screening
responsibilities from the airlines even before a new system is developed.
The list the airlines use includes only the people the government believes
"pose a direct threat to aviation." Many names of potential terrorists, now
kept in a slew of government databases, have been held back from the
airlines because some agencies consider the information too sensitive to
share.
That problem can be solved, the commission said, if the lists are
consolidated and the TSA takes charge of preflight passenger screening.
"Because air carriers implement the program, concerns about sharing
intelligence information with private firms and foreign countries keep the
U.S. government from listing all terrorist and terrorist suspects who should
be included," the report said.
The airline industry has welcomed that recommendation, which is expected to
be the subject of congressional debate this month. House leaders say they
want legislation to implement the commission's proposals in September, and
Senate leaders by October.
"We are all for the government being in charge of that, of the government
assuming that responsibility," said Diana Cronan, a spokeswoman for the Air
Transport Association of America, which represents 22 airlines, including
all major U.S. carriers. "They have all the information. They're trained and
they have the intelligence."
The commission noted its airline screening proposal, as well as other ideas
that would increase the government's power over the public, could tread on
civil liberties. That's why it recommends the creation of an executive
branch board committed "to defend our civil liberties" at a "time of
increased and consolidated government authority."
"How that may be fashioned is probably best left to the Congress and
president," said commission spokesman Jonathan Stull.
Other videos in Shaikh’s possession showed buildings and transit systems in Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas, as well as what appeared to be Mansfield Dam in Austin, according to an affidavit from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. It was not clear when the other videos were taken.