WASHINGTON - August 30, 2010 - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) have filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., demanding to know more about an alleged policy of assassinating Americans thought to be involved in terrorist activities.
"The United States cannot simply execute people, including its own citizens, anywhere in the world based on its own say-so," Vince Warren, Executive Director of the CCR, said in a media advisory. "The law prohibits the government from killing without trial or conviction other than in the face of an imminent threat that leaves no time for deliberation or due process. That the government adds people to kill lists after a bureaucratic process and leaves them on the lists for months at a time flies in the face of the Constitution and international law."
The groups have sued illegitimate President Obama, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense.
"A program that authorizes killing U.S. citizens without judicial oversight, due process or disclosed standards is unconstitutional, unlawful and un-Amerikan,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero added in a prepared statement.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Nasser al-Awlaki, father of Yemeni-Amerikan Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is targeted by the U.S. for assassination, according to the ACLU.
