UPDATED Press Release #2 Upon Protest of Civilian Killings (Karachi Press Club)

Find plenty of photos and related at Teeth Maestro - GO here

NOTE from Oneheart blogger:

How are civilian killings helping efforts in NWFP?

Why are reporters not often reporting and photographing the terrible deaths of civilians from the airstrikes and the RETURN killings of innocents who seek to rescue the survivors? Why does the public see almost always only the mourning and killings evidently from the Taliban? Why not seek as much honesty and integrity from reporters and military as possible? How might we best work globally to end these killings? Connecting with and supporting The Peoples Resistance based in Pakistan may well be one way to do our part.

Connie
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PRESS RELEASE Protesting Civilian Killings

Participating Groups and Possible Contacts are listed Below the Release

Fri, April 16, 2010 4:02:32 AM
[PR] statement for press - protest at Karachi Press Club
...
From:
abira ashfaq

Peoples Resistance Protest against Civilian Killings In Khyber

On Saturday April 10, the Pakistani army bombed villages in Tirah in the Khyber Agency and killed more than 70 civilians. While the military denied the incident, local government confirmed compensation payments for civilian deaths and injuries. "All of those killed were civilians, 100% innocent," said Ikramullah Jan Kukikhel, a tribal elder. He further elaborates that a house with women, children and elderly was bombed and as villagers rushed to rescue those caught in the rubble, they were also attacked, killing many more.

Given the lack of transparency surrounding the many operations it is safe to say this is not the first time civilians have been killed by the army. The media has, in some cases, been strong-armed into publishing only ISPR approved stories, while independent news from the conflict regions has been systematically suppressed. Civilian deaths and army’s conduct are not reported or questioned in the mainstream media at all. Stories criticizing the army are virtually non-existent because the army does not permit them. After the bombing in Tirah, a BBC reporter was not allowed access to the wounded brought to Peshawar's Hayatabad hospital.

Fahad Deshmukh, a reporter, writes about covering the operation in Swat, “We came across countless civilians whose family members or friends had been killed in the conflict.” After talking to many affected civilians, he attempted to file a story that talked about people who welcome the army operation and also those who have suffered and opposed it. When the story ran, his editors censored out all army inflicted casualties. Upon questioning he is told, "Sorry, the management has told us that we can only run pro-Army stories. These are orders from the top". He wonders what the impact would be if the media shows the true visuals behind the airstrikes the same way bombing of hotels in larger metropolitans are shown.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has provided a list of 249 suspected extra-judicial killings from July 30, 2009, to March 22, 2010, mostly in Swat. They go on to say that independent journalists and locals widely believed security forces were behind these executions. According to estimates by Institute for Peace Studies in Pakistan, in 2009 alone -- 3,021 were killed by insurgents, 6,329 in Pakistan army operations, 1,163 in army-Taliban battles, and 1,419 in other violence, including drone missiles.

Since March 2010, the military has started a new operation in Orakzai. By some sources, in just 21 days 423-558 “militants” have been killed. Given the opacity of these operations, the reports coming in from independent sources and the army’s attempts to black out all negative news, we need to understand and question the army’s conduct in this war and its role in these killings.

Peoples’ Resistance does not accept the official ISPR versions of this conflict and demand openness and accountability from the army and the media. We do not condone the human rights violations and war crimes being committed by our military under the guise of clearing the region of insurgency. We condemn the Pakistan military giving logistical support to the US to carry out drone attacks since 2004. The UN Human Rights Council has been sharply critical of US drone attacks and their failure and lack of interest in tracking civilian casualties, and finds that these violate international law.

We demand that all military actions in these operations, whether direct or indirect through support to the US drone attacks, be brought before tribunals. We also demand that the media fulfill its duties and monitor this war boldly and truthfully. Only truthful and uncensored news can bring about an end to the war and the insurgency – when the people are able to judge from facts and form authentic opinions that can lead to viable solutions to the insurgency and the war.

We express solidarity with all the victims of this war, and especially the people of Orakzai, Khyber, Swat, Buner, South and North Waziristan – people who have borne the brunt of these operations.

Your grief is not unnoticed

The Peoples Resistance
-----------------------------------
Article publ. April 16, 2010 Pakistan's Daily Times/Reuter
Civilian Losses Could Hurt Pakistan Army's Anti-Taliban Efforts
here
-----------------------------------
Earlier (First) Press Release from The Peoples Resistance:

STOP CIVILIAN KILLINGS - Karachi Press Club - 4pm 16 April 2010

PEOPLE'S RESISTANCE - PRESS RELEASE (Posted Karachi, 15 April 2010)

Protest Against Civilian Killings by Pakistan Army

Dear Friends:

More than 70 civilians had been killed in a military operation in a village of Khyber tribal agency. These were innocent people. The Army must take full responsibility for this ghastly act. We want to see officers and personnel held responsible for this in full public view.

We are outraged to see these civilian casualties from an operation of Pakistan Army. Killing innocent compatriots, women and children goes against all our values as Pakistanis and human beings.

Let us mourn the dead and join a protest led by Peoples Resistance against this in-human act at:

(NOTE: the following proposed time may be modified - or an additional meeting with press to register this protest may be arranges so please check with the following Peoples Resistance list of contacts below the list of groups joining to be sure of any possible changes)

KARACHI PRESS CLUB
FRIDAY 16th April, 2010
4:00 p.m.

Groups joining this protest include:

Karachi Bar Association KBA,
Labour Party of Pakistan LPP,
Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf PTI,
Workers Party Pakistan WPP,
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan HRCP,
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum PFF
Aurat Foundation,
Roots for Equity,
Strengthening Participatory Organizations SPO,
Action for a Progessive Pakistan APP
and others.

Please invite friends to join the protest.

Article:
Khyber air strike, Dawn Editorial, 13 Apr, 2010
here
--------------------------------------
The Peoples Resistance (PR) is a civil society organisation - a citizen's group and a loose coalition - composed of ordinary citizens, professionals, students and other human rights groups who work together for the common cause of : upholding the Constitution, restoration of Judiciary and implementing rule of Law.
--------------------------------------
POSSIBLE CONTACTS:

Pakistan:
"abira ashfaq"
"walikhi"

Others:
Sahar Shafqat (prof in the US) - "Sahar Shafqat"
and Sophia Hasnain (in Germany) - "Sophia Hasnain"

Fahad Deshmukh who has recently quit Express News wrote the following relevant piece,
here

From one of the organizers of Friday's protest: "...even people who had previously supported the operation are now beginning to see the ugly truth of this operation that we have been shielded from by ...media interventions...we need brave reporters like (Deshmukh)...to start speaking the truth."

The United States, of course, needs to take a great deal of responsibility for beginning this course of action in the first place - ie - the use of drones, pushing certain war methods, spreading hatred and pushing "the people" toward extremists or at least toward greater and greater distrust of both US and Pakistan's military. Documented also recently: US military killing of many civilians in this region and elsewhere.

NOTE: Karachi, Pakistan is 9 hours ahead of New York EST time

Help End US Occupation: NEW Legislation

Oneheart Blogger's note: When you call plz consider also registering a strong NO to occupation of any part of Pakistan and NO to the use of our US $ for war/drones in North West Frontier Province or anywhere else.

US National Call-In: New Anti-war Legislation! Today/Friday is a CRUCIAL Day but keep the calls coming in!
...
From:
Military Families Speak Out

Thank you to those who have already participated in our National Call-in Week and made calls to your Representatives and Senators to urge them to vote NO on the upcoming supplemental that will provide an additional $33 billion for war and occupation in Afghanistan.

In addition to asking them to vote against this funding and instead support the swift and safe removal of all of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, we now have new legislation to let them know about. Yesterday, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and U.S. Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) announced they are introducing legislation requiring President Obama to develop a timetable to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Senate bill: S. 3197
House bill: H.R. 5015

MFSO has teemed up with over 20 national organizations for this Call-in Week. Please help make it a success!

1. Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121. If you want to call your Representative or Senator directly you can find them here

2. Once you have made your call, please hit reply or send an email to mfso@mfso.org so we can keep track of our impact.

3. Join our facebook event.

4. Forward this message to your friends and family. Ask them to make a call as well.

Our message to Congress:

As military families (or those who support them), we urge you to vote against the $33 billion supplementary spending bill to pay for the escalation of troops in Afghanistan and the continuation of this war and occupation! We also want to let you know about the Afghanistan Timeline for Withdrawal Bill, Senate: S. 3197 and House: H.R. 5015 and ask you to do everything you can to insist that President Obama develop a rapid, real and complete plan to bring our troops home now.

CALL TODAY 202-224-3121

Our postal address is
P.O. Box 300549
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130
United States

PROTEST of CIVILIAN KILLINGS - Pakistanis Lead Peace Action

"A huge blunder was made, one that has scarred the lives of dozens of families." –Photo by Reuters (Photo published with the statement in quotes - Dawn newspaper 13 April 2010)

STOP CIVILIAN KILLINGS - Karachi Press Club - 4pm 16 April 2010

PEOPLE'S RESISTANCE - PRESS RELEASE (Posted Karachi, 15 April 2010)

Protest Against Civilian Killings by Pakistan Army

Dear Friends:

More than 70 civilians had been killed in a military operation in a village of Khyber tribal agency. These were innocent people. The Army must take full responsibility for this ghastly act. We want to see officers and personnel held responsible for this in full public view.

We are outraged to see these civilian casualties from an operation of Pakistan Army. Killing innocent compatriots, women and children goes against all our values as Pakistanis and human beings.

Let us mourn the dead and join a protest led by Peoples Resistance against this in-human act at:

KARACHI PRESS CLUB
FRIDAY 16th April, 2010
4:00 p.m.

Groups joining this protest include:

Karachi Bar Association KBA,
Labour Party of Pakistan LPP,
Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf PTI,
Workers Party Pakistan WPP,
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan HRCP,
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum PFF
Aurat Foundation,
Roots for Equity,
Strengthening Participatory Organizations SPO,
Action for a Progessive Pakistan APP
and others.

Please invite friends to join the protest.

Article:
Khyber air strike, Dawn Editorial, 13 Apr, 2010
here
--------------------------------------
The Peoples Resistance (PR) is a civil society organisation - a citizen's group and a loose coalition - composed of ordinary citizens, professionals, students and other human rights groups who work together for the common cause of : upholding the Constitution, restoration of Judiciary and implementing rule of Law.
--------------------------------------
POSSIBLE CONTACTS:

Pakistan:
"abira ashfaq"
"walikhi"

Others:
Sahar Shafqat (prof in the US) - "Sahar Shafqat"
and Sophia Hasnain (in Germany) - "Sophia Hasnain"

Fahad Deshmukh who has recently quit Express News wrote the following relevant piece,
here

From one of the organizers of Friday's protest: "...even people who had previously supported the operation are now beginning to see the ugly truth of this operation that we have been shielded from by ...media interventions...we need brave reporters like (Deshmukh)...to start speaking the truth."

US, of course, takes a great deal of responsibility for use of drones, pushing certain war methods, spreading hatred and pushing "the people" toward extremists or at least toward greater and greater distrust of both US and Pakistan's military. Documented also recently: US military killing of many civilians in this region and elsewhere.

NOTE: Karachi, Pakistan is 9 hours ahead of NY (Thus at posting it is 2:30 PM EST and 10:30 PM Karachi time Thursday.)

Report Indicates: "Recovered girl is Dr. Aafia's daughter"

Photo credit to Press TV

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 09:25:40 GMT

DNA tests have proven the identity of Dr. Aafia's daughter. (blogger's note: watching a video, looks like the daughter may be the girl on the R to the viewer of this blog with the girl on L to viewer possibly a supporting relative or new friend? See additional note below.) Being in US custody for seven years, the daughter is in a frail and precarious condition, and does not recognize anyone.

Pakistan confirms that an 11-year old girl, who has been in US custody for seven years and let loose in Karachi by unknown people, is the daughter of Aafia Siddiqui.

Daily Times, quoted the country's Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, confirming the girl, Maryam Khan, as the daughter of Aafia Siddiqui.

A US citizen and MIT graduate, Aafia Siddiqui, disappeared on a trip to Pakistan. Six years later, it was known that she had been kept at the Bagram US Airbase, in Afghanistan.

Reports of rape and torture shows she has been kept under inhumane conditions at the base. She was later transferred to the US and was charged with attempted murder and links with al-Qaeda. She was given a sentence of 40 years.

This is despite of the fact that Aafia's finger prints were not found on the weapon that she had supposedly used. She was convicted for firing at FBI agents and US military personnel in a police station in Afghanistan's Ghazni.

Chairman of the Senate's Standing Committee on Interior, Senator Talha Mehmood, slammed the US for keeping the child in a military jail in a cold, dark room for seven years.

He noted that the act is in violation of human rights, and threatened to stop cooperating with Washington in the region, should Afia Siddiqui not be returned to Islamabad.

Fauzia Siddiqui, Aafia's sister, following a meeting with Pakistani interior minister, expressed hope that the country's Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani would press for Aafi's release in his trip to the US.

Aafia's sentence to jail has triggered protests in Pakistan, as millions of her supporters asked for the immediate release and return of Aafia, calling it "a question of honor for Pakistan."

RZS/MMA

========
additional blogger's note: at this time, there are some questions to reporters at large as to how the DNA was matched - whether to the formerly returned boy - considered to be Dr. Aafia's son or some other method - yet evidently the immediate family now agrees that the girl is Dr. Siddiqui's son. At this time, the exact method for the returning of this girl who evidently was claimed to be in US custody is not completely known and she was thought to have been returned by an unknown person.

Spring's Reminders of Love (posted on Easter Sunday)

For those looking for the "usual" here, see the note at bottom.



in love with the new sun
the cherry blossom forgets
the night’s frost

Haiku and photo courtesy of Ivan M. Granger

***************************
“If anyone should ask me what God is, I should answer: God is love, and so altogether lovely that creatures all essay to love his loveliness...
— Meister Eckhart

The first week of the Easter Season is known as the Octave of Easter and holds many musical and universal reminders including ones of love. Below is a little collection put together with love for the sake of the Love connecting us all - especially in this season.

Excerpts from two poems by an ol' beloved minister:

...GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins



Even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens
with a love like that—
It lights the whole world.
— Hafez

(Photo thanx to the consistent eye for beauty of Akhtar Wasim Dar)

"We don’t understand that life is heaven, for we have only to understand that and it will at once be fulfilled in all its beauty, we shall embrace each other and weep."
— Fyodor Dostoevsky

Sometimes Love means Pain - here's a completely new perspective to me:
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
— Kenji Miyazawa

THE WAVE

As when far off in the middle of the ocean
A breast-shaped curve of wave begins to whiten
And rise above the surface, then rolling on
Gathers and gathers until it reaches land
Huge as a mountain and crashes among the rocks
With a prodigious roar, and what was deep
Comes churning up from the bottom in mighty swirls
Of sunken sand and living things and water —
So in the springtime every race of people
And all the creatures on earth or in the water,
Wild animals and flocks and all the birds
In all their painted colors, all rush to charge
Into the fire that burns them: love moves them all.
Virgil (translated by Robert Pinsky; The Threepenny Review)


Since my tradition of Easter celebrates SOMEONE once "into" Loaves and Fishes, I submit this final piece here most humbly as a goal for practical LOVE - although I have so much to learn about this practice...

Loaves and Fishes

This is not
the age of information.

This is not
the age of information.

Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.

This is the time
of loaves
and fishes.

People are hungry
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.

-- David Whyte


Steve Livingstone's blog "Stereo Man"

The Generosity of Easter
“Give so you have no regrets.” All year long, I’ve been contemplating this statement...attributed to Joseph Goldstein...Don’t give so much you can’t pay your bills and cause yourself all kinds of suffering, including resentment. Don’t give so little you suffer remorse later... Tracy in Parabola magazine

You are such an ocean of Love,
That you have no boundary.
The desire man and woman
Feel for each other,
Is only a drop from that ocean.
-Mevlana ( from a Divan was translated by the late Turkish scholar Golpinarli)

Other Rumi excerpts:

The bird of vision is flying towards You with the wings of desire...

...God is working everywhere his massive Resurrection;
How can we pretend to act on our own?
In the hand of Love I am like a cat in a sack;
Sometimes Love hoists me into the air,
Sometimes Love flings me into the air,
Love swings me round and round His head;
...The lovers of God have fallen in a furious river;
They have surrendered themselves to Love's commands...

Come!
...break apart
Your stony self.
The heart’s matrix
is glutted with rubies.
Springs of laughter
are buried in your breast.
...Batter down the door
to the treasury
...The water in your jug
is brackish and low.
Smash the jug
and come to the river!
-Jalaluddin Rumi
Rumi: The Light of Life

As a most connecting magazine and spiritual feast: PARAB0LA highlighted recently: "Love is that which unites self and other while maintaining the integrity of each."

****************************
For any here who want to follow the human rights updates such as "Weaving a Web of Accountability" Arar v. Ashcroft (Update on the Maher Arar Petition from Center for Constitutional Rights) and more, plz go to nomorecrusades dot blogspot dot com
******************

May each and all who come here Go in Peace, Love and Patience including with self opening to Self...

About Dr Aafia: International Seminar - 8 PM ET Fri. (NYC Time) - 5 AM Sat. (Karachi Time*)

* See note on Karachi Time end of this post - Also for Pakistanis in Pakistan (what with the great difficulty with electricity currently experienced) note that you can also submit questions AHEAD (NOW) and can HEAR SEMINAR by phone...

Featured in this imminent Seminar: Dr. Fawzia Siddiqui shown in this photo with Dr. Siddiqui's son - who is the ONLY one of THREE children returned. Attorney Tina Foster, also featured in this seminar, has made one or her organization's goals to find these missing children or to ascertain the reason for their disappearance and their location. Photo courtesy of Dawn - a well-known Pakistani newspaper publ. in English/the photo is from an unknown Monday.

Fact vs. Fiction: The Case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui - a Worldwide WEBINAR

This is an online event and can be accessed internationally VIA NET OR PHONE

FOR the LIVE broadcasting GO to Muslims for Justice dot org

OR by Phone:

Primary Number: (718) 290-9983

Backup Number: (248) 464-6062

Conference ID: 785487#

The recent guilty verdict in the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui has shocked and outraged masses across the globe. This controversial and complex case of Dr.Siddiqui has left several people with unanswered questions.

Log-on and listen to eye-witness accounts of Dr. Siddiqui’s three-week trial, which was held in New York City. Join our online webinar on Friday April 2, 2010 at 8pm (EST)

Guest Speakers and or messages include:

* Mohammad Siddiqui (Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's brother)
* Fawzia Siddiqui (Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's sister)
* Yvonne Ridley (Renowned British Journalist)
* Tina Foster (Executive Director of the International Justice Network)

The recent guilty verdict in the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui has shocked and outraged masses across the globe. This controversial and complex case of Dr. Siddiqui has left several people with unanswered questions. Come and attend our webinar to hear eye-witness accounts of Dr. Siddiqui’s three-week trial, which was held in New York City.

Questions can be offered NOW on the following site where the seminar will originate -
To submit your questions and FOR the LIVE broadcasting : LOG ON here

OR at time of the Seminar - you may also listen by Phone:

Primary Number: (718) 290-9983

Backup Number: (248) 464-6062

Conference ID: 785487#

****************

(Go to posts below for other select and relevant items)

Karachi-Pakistan Time: Evidently time in Karachi is NOW 9 hours ahead of US rather than the usual 10 hours ahead - Some here may understand this code? UTC/GMT Offset Standard time zone: UTC/GMT +5 (evidently no adaptions of time for this year - ie like in US where daylight saving/spring changes have led to a one hour change ahead from same US time before the springing forward. Note to make sure the right time for the above seminar is understood by Pakistanis and their contacts outside the nation.)

Breaking- US Federal Court: Barring Appeal, Islamic Foundation May Pursue Monetary Damages

latimes dot com

Federal court finds warrantless wiretapping of lawyers illegal
Barring an appeal, the ruling allows lawyers for the now-defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation to pursue monetary damages as 'aggrieved persons' under the federal law protecting them from illegal surveillance.
By Carol J. Williams

April 1, 2010

In a repudiation of the Bush administration's anti-terrorism surveillance program, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that the government violated federal law when it failed to seek warrants to spy on two lawyers working for an Islamic charity in Oregon.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected assertions by both Presidents Bush and Obama that their state secrets privilege shields them from lawsuits filed by American citizens investigated under a disputed domestic spying program launched after 9/11.

Government lawyers were reviewing the ruling, said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler, declining to say whether the Obama administration would appeal.

Barring an appeal, Walker's ruling allows the lawyers for the now-defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation to pursue monetary damages as "aggrieved persons" under the federal law protecting them from illegal surveillance.

Government investigators placed Al-Haramain under surveillance after Sept. 11, 2001, without seeking a warrant from the court created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The FISA court was accorded special protections to allow its judges to review in strict confidence sensitive national security matters cited in warrant requests.

The Bush administration, believing that its strategy for fighting terrorism justified bypassing the FISA statute, didn't attempt to defend its wiretapping practices in the Al-Haramain case. Rather, it argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because allowing it to proceed would undermine national security.

The Obama White House surprised some civil libertarians when it decided to continue defending Bush's claims to expanded powers to shield controversial counter-terrorism actions from lawsuits. Some advocates had expected Obama would change the policy

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have repeatedly attempted to take the government to trial over warrantless wiretapping but have been thwarted by federal court rulings that they lacked standing to sue unless their individual privacy rights had been violated.

In his 45-page ruling, Walker alluded to the "obvious potential for governmental abuse and overreaching inherent in the defendants' theory of unfettered executive-branch discretion." The judge also cited the government's "impressive display of argumentative acrobatics" in rationalizing its actions.

"Defendants contend this is not a FISA case and defendants are therefore free to hide behind the [state secrets privilege] all facts that could help plaintiffs' case. In so contending, defendants take a flying leap and miss by a wide margin," the judge wrote.

Jon Eisenberg, the attorney representing the foundation and lawyers Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor, hailed the ruling out of San Francisco as rejecting the Bush administration's claims to wield expanded powers in pursuit of terrorists and the Obama administration's support of that posture.

Constitutional law experts noted that neither Bush nor Obama lawyers disputed that the foundation had been placed under warrantless surveillance.

"What comes across loud and clear in the opinion is that the government hasn't made any attempt to deny the plaintiffs' assertion that they were electronically surveilled" without a FISA court warrant, said Kara Dansky, a constitutional law professor at Stanford Law School.

"It's hard to imagine that could be an oversight," Dansky said, given the breadth of cases in which the state secrets privilege has been invoked.

Eisenberg's clients brought suit in 2006 after receiving secret documents mistakenly sent to them in the course of a Treasury Department investigation of the Oregon chapter of the global charity, which at the time was suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda. The documents, later ruled confidential and secured by the court, made clear that Belew and Ghafoor's attorney-client conversations had been subject to eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.

The foundation and its lawyers were required to make a case that they had been victims of illegal surveillance without reference to the secret documents, a burden of proof Walker said they had satisfied.

Walker's ruling referred to a damage award formula Eisenberg said he proposed to "make it easy" for the administration to settle the case. The plaintiffs have asked for $100 a day for the 202 days for which they say they have indisputable evidence that they were under surveillance, or $20,200 per "aggrieved person."

Even if Walker adds the usual tenfold maximum for punitive damages, it would cost the government less than $600,000 to settle, said Eisenberg, who has represented the foundation pro bono but could be awarded attorney's fees if Walker so orders.

"This case is not about money," Eisenberg said. "It's about putting the brakes on the abuse of presidential power."

carol.williams@latimes.com

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times