US 'no-fly' list of suspected terrorists doubles in 12 months
Classified log of individuals banned from flying into or within America as they
are considered a threat stands at 21,000
• Associated Press in Washington
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 February 2012 05.06 EST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/02/us-no-fly-list-doubles
The size of the US government's secret list of suspected terrorists who are
banned from flying to or within the country has more than doubled in the past
year.
The no-fly list jumped from about 10,000 known or suspected terrorists one year
ago to about 21,000, according to government figures. About 500 are US
nationals.
The flood of new names began after the failed Christmas 2009 bombing of a
Detroit-bound jetliner when the US government lowered the standard for putting
people on the list and scoured its files for anyone who qualified. "We learned
a lot about the watchlisting process and made strong improvements, which
continue to this day," said Timothy Healy, director of the Terrorist Screening
Centre, which produces the no-fly list.
Among the most significant new standard is that a person doesn't have to be
considered only a threat to aviation to be placed on the list.
People considered a broader threat to domestic or international security or who
attended a terror training camp are also included, said a US counter-terrorism
official who spoke on condition of anonymity. As agencies complete the reviews
of their files, the pace of growth is expected to slow, the counter-terrorism
official said.
The American Civil Liberties Union has previously sued the US government on
behalf of Americans who believe they are on the no-fly list and have not been
able to travel by air for work or to see family.
"The news that the list is growing tells us that more people's rights are being
violated," said Nusrat Choudhury, of the ACLU. "It's a secret list, and the
government puts people on it without any explanation. Citizens have been
stranded abroad."
People who complain they're unfairly on the list can submit a letter to the
homeland security department, but the only way they'll know if they're still on
the list is to try to fly again, she said.
While the list is secret, it is subject to continuous review to ensure the
right people are on it and that those who shouldn't be are removed, said Martin
Reardon, a former chief of the FBI's terrorist screening operations centre.
If a person is nominated to be on the no-fly list, but there is insufficient
information to justify it, the person is downgraded to a different list, he
said. "You can't just say: 'Here's a name. Put him on the list.' You've got to
have articulable facts."
On average, there are 1,000 changes to US watchlists each day, most of which
involve adding new information about someone on the list.
The no-fly list previously swelled to 20,000 people in 2004. At the time,
people including the late Ted Kennedy, a sitting senator, were being stopped
before flying.
The US transportation security administrator, John Pistole, said instances of
travellers being mistaken for terrorists were, however, down significantly
since the US government and not airlines became responsible for checking the
list.
Travellers must provide their full name, birthdate and gender when purchasing
an airline ticket so the government can screen them against the terror
watchlist.
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Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.
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