A federal judge in Washington agreed with Justice Department lawyers yesterday that federal privacy restrictions bar the public release of government documents concerning a Falls Church man held without charges in Saudi Arabia since June 2003.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates means that many records in the case, including those that might show whether the U.S. government had a role in the detention of Ahmed Abu Ali, 23, are likely to be made available only to Abu Ali's family and its attorney, according to the attorney.
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Last month, Bates ordered U.S. officials to provide such information so he can decide whether his court has jurisdiction in the case. Abu Ali's parents, Omar and Faten Abu Ali, have petitioned the court to order their son's release or his transfer to this country. The parents contend that their son, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in Saudi Arabia while studying there, is being detained at the behest of U.S. authorities.
Some civil liberties activists said yesterday that Bates's decision to bar public release of documents in the case turns the federal Privacy Act on its head.
"The purpose of the Privacy Act is to make sure the person [whose records are in the government's possession] has control over releasing the information publicly," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, a civil liberties organization. "Here, the government is invoking the Privacy Act to take away that decision. . . . It reminds me of the government claiming it couldn't tell the American public who it had jailed after September 11 in order to protect the privacy of those it had unfairly jailed."
Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller would not comment.
The family's attorney, Morton Sklar, executive director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA, said the family intends to object to the privacy restrictions because "both the family and Ahmed have agreed to disclosure" of materials relating to his detention. He added that the family had tried to have Ahmed Abu Ali sign a waiver of his privacy rights but that "the form never got through to Ahmed for his signature."
In another development in the case, Bates yesterday gave government lawyers until tomorrow afternoon to respond to a request from Abu Ali's parents that the judge order the government to inform them immediately of their son's condition and whereabouts.
In papers filed with the court Monday, the family said that it has not heard from Abu Ali since Nov. 20 and that U.S. officials have declined to give relatives information about him. Until late November, Abu Ali had been calling his parents every two weeks, the family said.
Bates also agreed to a government request for an additional two weeks before it must tell him how it intends to implement his order to provide information on whether the U.S. government has had a role in Abu Ali's detention.
In seeking the postponement, government attorneys said that "in light of the sensitivity and significance of the issues raised in this case, a considerable number of government officials, including many at high levels, have been involved in consultations regarding the appropriate response" to Bates's order.
In addition, they said that other "factors relating to the national security concerns implicated by this case are addressed in the declarations of Willie T. Hulon and William P. Pope." Hulon is chief of the FBI's counterterrorism division and Pope is acting coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department. Their declarations, which government attorneys say contain classified information, have not been made public.
Government lawyers also submitted an affidavit from Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon D. Kromberg stating that he does not recall making a comment in 2003 that Abu Ali "has no fingernails left."
"I have no knowledge of any mistreatment of Abu Ali . . . [and] I do not have any other information that would lead me to believe that he has anything wrong with his fingernails," Kromberg wrote.
His sworn statement was in response to an affidavit from a lawyer who said that Kromberg had made the comment during a conversation in the federal courthouse in Alexandria.
