JW Statement on SCOTUS Refusal to Take up Challenge to Obama Secrecy on bin Laden Images.

JW Statement on SCOTUS Refusal to Take up Challenge to Obama Secrecy on bin Laden Images.HT: JudicialWatch.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch issued a statement today regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to take up a challenge to the Obama administration’s keeping secret post mortem images of Osama bin Laden and his burial at sea.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said:

With the seeming endorsement of the judiciary, Barack Obama has rewritten the Freedom of Information Act at the expense of the American people’s right to know what its government is up to.  

The idea that the “most transparent administration in history” would put the sensibilities of terrorists above the rule of law ought to concern every American.  What other laws that terrorists don’t like might be subject to unilateral change by Obama?  Obama’s appeasement places our fundamental rights and accountable government at risk.  

Judicial Watch had filed a certiorari petition with the Supreme Court of the United States to review a 2013 Appeals Court ruling against the Judicial Watch lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dept. of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency (No. 12-5137)). The suit sought to force the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to release more than 50 photographs and video recordings of Osama bin Laden taken during and after the U.S. raid upon the terrorist leader’s compound in Pakistan on May 1, 2011.

Judicial Watch’s petition had asked the Supreme Court to “reverse this disturbing reversal,” and mandate the courts to “conduct meaningful review” and warned that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will “continue as less of a disclosure than a “withholding statute.” 

Related: 

Controversy over Osama Bin Laden death stirred by Kuwaiti analyst’s claims "He's Alive".

Judicial Watch Sues Pentagon for Documents on “Purge” of bin Laden Raid Documents. 

U.S. Navy: bin Laden Burial Must be Kept Secret because it Might Offend Terrorists Abroad.

U.S. Navy: bin Laden Burial Must be Kept Secret because it Might Offend Terrorists Abroad.(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that on January 15, 2013, the United States Navy filed a motion for summary judgment on Judicial Watch’s July 18, 2012, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking access to the details regarding the burial of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Department of the Navy (No. 1:12-cv-01182)). The Obama administration argued that information related to the burial should be kept secret because it might offend terrorists abroad.
Following the May 2, 2011, Navy SEAL raid that led to bin Laden’s capture and killing, the al Qaeda leader was reportedly transported by the USS Carl Vinson and buried at sea in accordance with Muslim law.

Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit seeks “any funeral ceremony, rite, or ritual” confirming that slain terrorist Osama bin Laden was given full Islamic burial honors.

In its Motion for Summary Judgment, which, if granted by the Court, would end the lawsuit, the Navy cited a sworn declaration from Lieutenant General Curtis M. Scaparrotti, Director of the Joint Staff, who repeated the narrative that details related to the bin Laden burial could inflame tensions among terrorists:

Notwithstanding the fact that proper burial procedures were followed during bin Laden’s burial at sea, al-Qa’ida would almost assuredly question the propriety of those procedures, thereby inflaming tensions among overseas populations that include al- Qa’ida members or sympathizers, encouraging propaganda by various terrorist groups or other entities hostile to the United States, and potentially leading to retaliatory attacks against the United States and its citizens both at home and abroad.

“There is simply no exemption in FOIA law that allows the government to withhold records from the American people because terrorists might be offended,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. 

“First, we’re told that we can’t see videos or photos of the burial, now we’re told we can’t see written information about the burial. This attempt to rewrite FOIA law to include a ‘let’s not offend the terrorists’ exemption is another example of the Obama administration thinking it is the law unto itself.”

Judicial Watch previously uncovered 31 pages of heavily redacted emails concerning the burial, including a paragraph with previously unknown details of the bin Laden interment at sea:

“Traditional procedures for Islamic burial was [sic] followed. The deceased body was washed (ablution) then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flatboard, tipped up, whereupon the deceased’s body slid into the sea.”
The documents did not include the “prepared religious remarks” read at bin Laden’s burial as specified in the Judicial Watch FOIA request. 
If Navy regulations were followed, the remarks likely included the exculpatory Muslim prayer, “O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, pardon him, grant him security, provide him a nice place and spacious lodging, wash him (off from his sins) with water, snow, and ice, purify him … make him enter paradise and save him from the trials of grave and the punishment of hell.”
The emails indicated that “less than a dozen” members of military leadership were informed of the burial and that “No sailors watched.”

The Navy informed Judicial Watch that they only had limited information related to the bin Laden burial due to “operational security.” The Navy also stated that they were not able to locate a copy of the remarks.Read the full story here.