ACLU sues Pentagon over anti-war group monitoring

PHILADELPHIA, June 16 : The American Civil Liberties Union sued the US Defense Department to demand information it says the government has collected on groups opposed to the war in Iraq.

The group said yesterday the Pentagon has been monitoring anti-war groups and individuals and has compiled lists on people it sees as potential threats but who the ACLU says are exercising their free-speech rights.

The suit was the ACLU's first attempt to force the Pentagon to disclose domestic surveillance and followed similar suits by the organization against the FBI and the Justice Department.

''It's absolutely improper for the US military to keep databases on lawful First Amendment (free-speech) activities,'' said ACLU attorney Ben Wizner. ''These are peaceful, law-abiding groups and individuals that oppose US war policy but pose no threat to the military.'' The ACLU said the Defense Department shared the information with other government agencies through the database, known as the Threat and Local Observation Notice, or Talon.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the Defense Department never commented on pending lawsuits.

In April, the Pentagon said a review found it had collected data on US peace activists and discovered that about 260 entries in the Talon database should not have been kept there or should have been removed.

The suit, filed in US District Court for eastern Pennsylvania, charges the Pentagon is refusing to comply with requests by the ACLU to declare who had been monitored.

The ACLU filed the requests after learning through an NBC News report of Pentagon surveillance of peace groups.

The ACLU has also challenged President George W Bush's order authorizing the National Security Agency to tap into private phone calls without court permission.

The latest suit is filed on behalf of some 30 groups, including the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that promotes social justice and peace.

Reuters