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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Treasury Sued to Release Documents on False Positives in Terrorist Watch Lists
On May 16 the Laweyrs Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed a complaint against t he U.S. Department of Treasury in federal court to force compliance with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking information on inquiries about names on the terrorist watch list.
In its press release the group origninally filed its FOIA request in August 2005, and noted:
"An increasing number of private companies, including banks, mortgage companies, car dealerships, health insurers, landlords and employers screen consumers names against the OFAC list...Consumers discover the OFAC list when they are told that they cannot make a purchase, open an account or do business because their name appears on a terror list."
The complaint notes that Treasury has no process for removing names placed on the list erroneously, or for distinguishing common names similar to thoseon the list. Their March 2007 report documents the inaccuracies and discriminatory impact of the list.
For more information see this AP article
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