NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights today issued the following response to a statement by Adam Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Szubin issued the statement after CCR and the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department and OFAC challenging their failure to grant a license that would allow the groups to file a lawsuit concerning the government's asserted authority to execute individuals outside of conflict zones without due process.
The following can be attributed to the ACLU and CCR:
“OFAC has neither issued a license nor stated that we don’t need one. It suggests that it might eventually grant us a license for our work, but our application has already gone unanswered for eleven days. OFAC is well aware that the case relates to the government’s decision to add a U.S. citizen to its ‘targeted killing’ list. To say that the matter is urgent is a dramatic understatement. Instead of issuing press releases, OFAC should simply issue us a license.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.