WASHINGTON � The Obama administration on Saturday invoked the state secrets privilege which would kill a lawsuit on behalf of U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an alleged terrorist said to be targeted for assassination by the U.S. government.
In a court filing, the Justice Department said that the issues in the case are for the executive branch of government to decide rather than the courts.
The department also said the case entails information that is protected by the military and state secrets privilege.
"The idea that courts should have no role whatsoever in determining the criteria by which the executive branch can kill its own citizens is unacceptable in a democracy," the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement. Al-Awlaki's father, through the CCR and the ACLU, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington.
Those filing the case have demanded the government disclose a wide variety of classified information that could harm U.S. national security, Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
"It strains credulity to argue that our laws require the government to disclose to an active, operational terrorist any information about how, when and where we fight terrorism," said Miller.
The lawsuit seeks to have a court declare that the Constitution and international law bar the government from carrying out targeted killings; seeks to block the targeted killing of al-Awlaki; and seeks to force the U.S. government to disclose the standards for determining whether U.S. citizens can be targeted for death.
The Obama administration says the Yemen-based cleric is spreading violent propaganda over the Internet and is believed to have helped inspire a failed December airline plot and other terrorist attacks.
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