Torturers running census threatening people telling public

Dear Mr Hansen

I acknowledge receipt of your request which was received in our office
yesterday. We will respond to you in due course.

Yours sincerely

G Drysdale
(On behalf of GROS FOI Officer)

General Register Office for Scotland
Ladywell House
Ladywell Road
Edinburgh
EH12 7TF

Gillian Drysdale
Ext 355

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Mr Hansen,

In your recent FOI request dated 23 February 2009, you have requested that
GROS provide information on meetings etc. on legal action that could be
initiated by the `torturers'. The exact wording is detailed below:

"Please provide me with minutes of meetings, e-mails, letters, notes of
telephone calls and any other communications between yourselves and

the torturers relating to legal action that could be initiated by [the
torturers]'.

In the earlier parts of your FOI request you refer to a quote by Peter
Scrimgeour of GROS relating to possible legal action by CACI (UK) Ltd.
following media reports, in responses made to members of SACC. We assume
from that that you seek information about dealings with CACI (UK) Ltd -
but we do not accept the term 'torturers' to describe the firm, since it
has not been convicted of (or indeed charged with) `torture' and
strongly denies the allegations which have been made against it. 

I can confirm the information from Peter Scrimgeour, that GROS was
informed about legal action that could be initiated by CACI (UK) Ltd in
response to criticism of the company following media reports, and that as
a courtesy GROS received a copy of the letter that was issued to SACC.

If you are unhappy with this response to your request, you may ask us to
carry out an internal review, by writing to:

Mr Eddie Turnbull

Head of Corporate Services

General Register Office for Scotland

Ladywell House

Ladywell Road

Edinburgh

EH12 7TF

Your request should explain why you wish a review to be carried out, and
should be made within 40 working days of receipt of this letter, and we
will reply within 20 working days of receipt. If you are not satisfied
with the result of the review, you then have the right to make a formal
complaint to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Bobby Gardiner
GROS

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Mr. Hansen,

I am sorry that we misunderstood your recent FOI request.

To confirm, GROS holds no minutes of meetings, e-mails, letters, notes of
telephone calls or any other communications with CACI (UK) Ltd relating to
"legal action that could be initiated". GROS was not involved in CACI
(UK) Ltd's decision to take legal action or in the preparation of the
letter to SACC. CACI(UK) Ltd informed GROS by telephone of their
intention to issue the letter to SACC and provided a copy which is the
only record that GROS holds. A copy of the text of that letter is
included in this e-mail.

If you are unhappy with this response to your request, you may ask us to
carry out an internal review, by writing to:

Mr Eddie Turnbull

Head of Corporate Services

General Register Office for Scotland

Ladywell House

Ladywell Road

Edinburgh

EH12 7TF

Your request should explain why you wish a review to be carried out, and
should be made within 40 working days of receipt of this letter, and we
will reply within 20 working days of receipt. If you are not satisfied
with the result of the review, you then have the right to make a formal
complaint to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Bobby Gardiner

Census Division

GROS

Ladywell House
Ladywell Road
Edinburgh
EH12 7TF

=====================================================

Copy of letter to SACC

Dear Sirs

CACI INTERNATIONAL AND CACI UK LIMITED - [1]www.sacc.org.uk

We act on behalf of CACI International and CACI UK Limited.

We write in respect of web pages published by you on your website
[2]www.sacc.org.uk.

Using the search facility on the homepage for "Scottish Census" it brings
up a series of search results, the first of which is entitled "SACC
Condemns Award of Census Contract to Subsidiary of "Abu Ghraib" Firm"
under which there is a subheading "Census Contract - Scottish Government
must reconsider it's decision". We enclose a copy of the article for ease
of reference so that you are clear as to the article to which we refer. It
is dated 5^th September 2008.

We and our clients consider that the article is both defamatory and is
also intended to interfere with CACI Limited's contractual rights with
General Register of Scotland ("GROS") in relation to the contract to run
the 2011 Scottish Census.

We rely on the following parts of your article although in court the
article would be considered in its entirety for its intended meaning and
effect:

"SACC is deeply concerned that CACI Limited, a UK subsidiary of a
company that has been involved in interrogating prisoners at Abu
Ghraib prison, was in June awarded the contract to run the 2011
Scottish Census. We think it is wrong to give business to a company
that helped run Abu Ghraib and that it is unwise to ask Scots to give
personal information to a company whose parent company is closely
linked to the US military and intelligence communities...

SACC believes that the involvement of the US based arm of CACI
Limited's parent company, CACI International Inc, in the abusive
regime at Abu Ghraib makes CACI Limited unfit to run the Scottish
census. We think that the Scottish Government needs to reconsider its
decision urgently...

SACC believes that the Scottish Government has not paid sufficient
attention to the issues of data security inherent in asking Scottish
households to provide information to a company whose mission is to
advance the interests of the United States Government...

SACC fears that it will be difficult and extremely expensive to
conduct audits that could establish to an acceptable standard whether
CACI (UK) meets its obligations under UK data protection and census
confidentiality legislation.

Torture Allegations

As well as being involved in a detention regime characterised by the
systemic denial of human rights, CACI International Inc has been
accused in US Courts by former Abu Ghraib detainees of involvement in
their wrongful imprisonment and torture. Four former detainees
helped by the Center for Constitutional Rights, recently (June 2008)
filed cases against CACI International Inc, CACI Premier Technology
Inc and L-3 Services as well as against two former employees of CACI
and a former employee of L-3 (then Titan Corporation)...

SACC believes that CACI and its employees, like anyone else, are
entitled to a fair hearing and to a presumption of innocence unless
proven guilty. But we think that, in awarding the Census contract,
the Scottish Government should have taken into account CACI
International's undisputed involvement in the scandalous detention
regime at Abu Ghraib. Most people in Scotland view that regime with
repugnance and will want no share in CACI's pride at the assistance
it gave to the military torturers who are its customers.

Holding Torturers to Account

The US stopped using Abu Ghraib prisoners in 2006, but it continues
to hold detainees at other locations in Iraq. In February 2008, the
US military stated that the MNF was holding 23,900 people. Amnesty
International says that ill-treatment and torture are still being
reported. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees have been proven in
US courts and there is copious evidence that, at least at the time of
CACI's involvement with Abu Ghraib, there was a pervasive culture of
abuse within the MNF. Yet no senior US administration official or
military office have so far been held to account, nor have any
corporation that provided services to the military.

CACI chairman J Philip London has authored a book called "Our Good
Name" that claims to show "how CACI battled to defend itself against
erroneous and malicious reports by a rampaging media". It looks like
an attempt not just to launder CACI's reputation, but also to replace
the story of the suffering of tortured detainees with a story of
CACI's fight against embarrassment.

CACI says that it has co-operated fully with every government
investigation. But it has also acted aggressively to suppress a
number [of] non-governmental attempts to get at the truth of Abu
Ghraib.

At the beginning of August the US Appeals Court in Richmond threw out
CACI's most famous law suit. Citing the First Amendment right to the
freedom of expression it upheld a lower court's dismissal of CACI's
defamation suit against former Air America radio host Randi Rhodes.

Scottish Government "Sleeping at its Post"

The Scottish Government must have been sleeping at its post to allow
this music-hall joke of a company to get its hands on our census
forms. Perhaps the Scottish public will be more alert. In all
likelihood, unprecedented numbers of people will either risk the
wrath of the law by failing to complete their forms or will just
choose to protect their privacy by filling the forms with nonsense.

GROS says that CACI (UK)'s proposals will delivery "best value for
tax payers' money". Some hope. So why not think again..."

This article is defamatory of our clients in that, when read as a whole,
it suggests the following:-

1. That CACI International Inc was involved in wrongful imprisonment,
torture and the systemic denial of human rights and the "undisputed
involvement in the scandalous detention regime at Abu Ghraib".
Further, we rely on your statements "... CACI's pride at the
assistance it gave to the military torturers who were its
customers...".

In particular our clients take great exception to the heading "Holding
Torturers to Account", from this the reader would infer that our clients
are or were torturers. This is grossly defamatory and completely untrue.

As you are aware, and as stated in your own article, there is no factual
basis, however, for the allegations contained on your website concerning
the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. After numerous and thorough
Government investigations, no CACI employee or former employee has been
charged with any misconduct in connection with CACI's interrogation work
in Iraq. No CACI employee appears in any of the infamous abuse
photographs from Abu Ghraib. CACI have unequivocally renounced the abuse
that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison and have cooperated fully in all
Government enquiries of this matter. CACI does not condone or tolerate
illegal or inappropriate behaviour by any employee.

Our clients will not simply presume its employees are guilty of misconduct
based on unsubstantiated allegations, hearsay or media promulgated
rumours, and neither should your website. Our client does not condone,
tolerate or endorse any illegal behaviour by any of its employees in any
circumstances at any time. If any credible evidence emerges to
demonstrate wrongdoing, our clients will respond accordingly, but they
will not base their judgment upon speculation, innuendo, incomplete
investigation or unsupported allegations.

As you are aware, our clients' Chairman of the Board, Mr Jack London, has
documented the company's role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in a newly
released book entitled "Our Good Name". On the 4 year anniversary of the
scandal, Dr London published a fully researched and fact checked work
that uses documents facts and sworn testimony before the US Congress and
the Courts to tell the true story of CACI's role at Abu Ghraib.

Contrary to the image presented to the public by the media and by your
website, we are instructed that CACI International Inc provided qualified
dedicated professionals who were called to serve in highly stressful and
very dangerous conditions, and who received good performance reviews for
the work which they did. Our clients remain proud of the work which they
performed in very difficult and perilous war time conditions. The army
was in need of help and they were asked to provide interrogators. Our
clients' qualified professionals made valuable contributions to the war
effort in Iraq. The fact that others oppose this war effort is not a
valid reason to run maliciously false articles about CACI on your
website.

2. The article on your website not only maligns and misrepresents
CACI International Inc regarding its work in Iraq but it also maligns and
misrepresents CACI UK and its contract with GROS. It is an attempt to
interfere or cause others to interfere with our clients' contractual
rights with GROS.

Your web article falsely states that personal data collected during the
census might be made available to the United States Government.

However, the facts are:

* The General Register Office for Scotland ("GROS") carefully
evaluated the commitment of CACI UK to protect the confidentiality
of the personal data collected during the Scottish census project
before selecting CACI UK for award.
* CACI UK is subject to the laws of the United Kingdom just like any
other UK company.
* CACI UK will abide by all applicable laws governing the handling of
personal data, including the UK Data Protection Act 1998 and the
Census Act.
* The contract between CACI UK and GROS contains strict protections
safeguarding the handling of data collected pursuant to the
contract, and holds CACI UK accountable in the event of any
violation of the Data Protection Act of 1998, the Scotland Census
Act or other applicable laws and regulations.
* All CACI UK staff assigned to support the Scottish census project
are now, and will be in the future, UK citizens subject to the
census confidentiality provisions of the Scotland Census Act.
* All CACI UK employees will be required to inform the appropriate
authorities if anyone requests them to break their respective
individual commitment to safeguard the confidentiality of the
census data for any reason.
* At all times, GROS will have a current list of the names of CACI UK
employees authorised to access the Scottish census data.
* At all times, the census data will be securely held in Scotland.

Your act of interference or attempted interference in our clients'
contractual relations with GROS constitutes a tort in law and is
actionable. Our clients are entitled to seek an injunction and damages
against you and against any others with whom you may be acting in concert
and whom you may be encouraging to put pressure on GROS to cancel its
contract with our clients.

We have advised our clients that for the abovementioned reasons your
website is both defamatory and likely to cause damage to their contractual
relations with GROS and are likely therefore to cause damage and loss to
our client's reputation and business.

Our clients are currently investigating the extent of the financial damage
already caused by your website to our clients' reputation and they fully
reserve their rights against you in relation to such damage and to any
interference which you have already caused with their contractual
relations with GROS. If any damage is found to have been suffered
whatsoever, our clients fully intend to bring legal proceedings against
you without further notice in which case please nominate solicitors whom
you will instruct to accept service of proceedings on your behalf.

In the meantime our clients require from you no later than 5pm on Monday
15^th September 2008 the following:-

1. Your agreement in writing to remove the webpage article from your
website immediately, including any links to other defamatory websites
including that of The Sunday Herald;

2. Your agreement in writing to publish a retraction of these
allegations on your website, together with a written apology, making clear
that CACI International was not involved in the serious incidents
described in your article and that CACI UK Limited had no involvement
whatsoever, in terms to be agreed in advance with our clients prior to
publication on your website;

3. Your agreement in writing to desist immediately from making
attempts, whether through your website or otherwise, and whether acting in
concert with other third parties or otherwise, to interfere with our
clients' contractual relations with GROS;

4. Your agreement in writing to publish an explanation as to the
reasons why our clients would not and could not pass information which had
been collected through the Scottish Census to the US Government (other
than in compliance with any applicable UK legislation);

5. Your confirmation in writing that you undertake not to repeat the
defamatory allegations complained of above.

Our clients reserve all their legal rights, including the rights to claim
for compensatory and special damages for libel.

Yours faithfully

Steptoe & Johnson

==================end of letter=================================

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References

Visible links
1. file://www.sacc.org.uk
2. file://www.sacc.org.uk