ACLU Asks For Spy Files

Ever feel like somebody’s watching you? Several of Georgia’s human rights and political activist groups have felt that way for years. Now they’re trying to prove that it’s not paranoia.

“It’s pretty likely that our list serves are monitored,” said John Hunt, a member of the Columbus-based group School of America’s Watch. “I know people have come to our annual strategy sessions that we’re quite sure were with the FBI.”

Other School of America’s Watch members said that previous non-violent protests have been monitored by FBI snipers. At another rally police subjected protesters to a metal detector search.

Gerry Weber, an attorney with the ACLU of Georgia, said Americans have a right to know if the FBI is investigating them. He said the ACLU has requested FBI surveillance files on certain groups.

“Either the FBI will turn over their records and we will have a chance to get some insight into the gravity and the scope of the spying, or they won’t hand over the records and we will file a lawsuit,” Weber said.

Recently, the ACLU filed suit in Washington seeking access to surveillance files on groups in other states following complaints from students and political activists questioned by FBI agents in the months leading up to the 2004 political conventions.

In December, the ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act requests on behalf of more than 100 groups and individuals in six states. So far, they’ve received only 20 pages of documentation.

Weber said that increased government surveillance has become an accepted part of life in a post-9/11 America, and he questioned whether that is a good thing.

In Georgia, the ACLU represents the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, School of the America’s Watch, Women’s Action for New Directions, Atlanta Refuse and Resist, and the Atlanta Independent Media Center.??