The ACLU has filed a lawsuit over the Obama administration's drone 'kill list'

An Air Force aerial vehicle
(Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration to disclose information about its secret drone "kill list." The lawsuit comes as the U.S. considers whether to expand its fight against ISIS beyond Syria and Iraq.

The ACLU wants government transparency about the criteria for the so-called "targeted killing program." The lawsuit was officially filed Monday in a New York federal court and seeks information about "the number, identities, legal status, and suspected affiliations of those killed" in counterterrorism attacks.

"Over the last few years, the U.S. government has used armed drones to kill thousands of people, including hundreds of civilians," Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director, said in a statement provided to The Week. "The public should know who the government is killing and why it's killing them."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.