ACLU Assists Muslim Groups In Lawsuit Over FBI Surveillance

September 19, 2007

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Several Islamic groups in Southern California sued the FBI on Tuesday to force the agency to release more documents about the alleged surveillance of individuals and local mosques following the Sept. 11 attacks.

In May 2006, 11 Muslim leaders and community groups sent the FBI a Freedom of Information Act request for documents about suspected surveillance of them and sued after the bureau released just four pages, one of them largely blank.

The ACLU, which filed the request and lawsuit, believes the FBI is withholding information. The civil rights group said in a statement that the FBI “squandered an opportunity” to build trust with the Muslim community by not releasing the information.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and alleges that the FBI’s document search was inadequate. The suit says there is concern that FBI investigations “threaten to erode the constitutionally protected freedom of religion that Muslim Americans enjoy.”

Last year, local Islamic leaders said they turned to the ACLU for help after the FBI provided little information in response to their concern about government monitoring. They said mosquegoers reported being questioned by the FBI about their religious practices and the sermons given during prayer services.

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