Center For Constitutional Rights v. Central Intelligence Agency

765 F.3d 161 (2nd Cir. 2014)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Mohammed al-Qahtani has been held at Guantanamo Bay from February 13, 2002, to the present day on suspicion that he had planned to act as the 20th hijacker of the planes used in the September 11, 2001 ('9/11') terrorist attacks on the United States. On March 4, 2010, P filed FOIA requests with the government seeking disclosure of videos, photographs, and other audio-visual recordings of al-Qahtani at Guantanamo between 2002 and 2005. The government (D) did not respond. On January 9, 2012, P filed this lawsuit, purportedly with al-Qahtani's consent. D identified 62 records responsive to P's requests. D claimed the right to withhold the Responsive Records primarily under Exemption 1, which exempts from disclosure records that are 'specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy,' and 'are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order.' Declarant Major General Horst asserted that the disclosure of the Records could reasonably be expected to harm national security. The General presented similar images of detainees used to recruit new terrorists. He also detailed the issues of holding foreign nationals. The government submitted ex parte an index identifying the contents of the 53 FBI videotapes for the District Court's in camera review. The Court ruled for D and P appealed.