FOIA Action Seeking List of GTMO Detainees

1. This is an action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, et seq., brought by a reporter for The Miami Herald to compel access to a single record believed to be held by a single office in the Department of Defense (“DOD”): a list of names. 2. In December 2012, in the course of investigating a breaking news story concerning Guantanamo Bay detainees, Plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to DOD seeking a list of the names of the Guantanamo detainees whose status in a November 2012 GAO report is listed as “Continued Detention under the AUMF.” Plaintiff requested that DOD grant expedited processing of the request given its timely news value and importance. 3. Not only did DOD refuse to grant expedited processing of Plaintiff’s FOIA request, DOD still hasn’t provided the single record Plaintiff seeks. Nor has DOD processed Plaintiff’s timely administrative appeal of its refusal to grant expedited processing and failure to timely disclose the record Plaintiff seeks. In defense of its delay, DOD has offered only empty bromides—that the record facility is geographically separated from the DOD office with which Plaintiff filed her FOIA request and that it has a need to consult  with other DOD components. 4. Given the significant public interest in understanding and resolving the questions concerning the propriety of the detentions of hundreds of individuals at Guantanamo Bay, Plaintiff seeks declaratory, injunctive, and other relief to enforce her statutory right to inspect the names of the Guantanamo detainees whose status in the 2012 GAO report is “Continued Detention under the AUMF.” Plaintiff seeks expeditious treatment of this Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1657.