October 4, 2021, Washington DC - Attorneys for Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press (RCFP) have sued the Department of Defense, office of US Central Command and US Agency for International Aid (USAID) on behalf of journalist Azmat Khan, claiming violation of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Azmat sought records on civilian casualties in US wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and was not provided the documents. 

In a statement published by the RCFP, the organization publicly announced its intention to pursue legal action against the US Department of Defense, office of US Central Command and USAID for what it claims is a violation of the FOIA. In late 2019, investigative journalist Azmat Khan filed the first of eight requests seeking records from two federal agencies: U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Both those offices used delaying tactics and bureaucratic red-tape to create hurdles in the process. And at the time of the publication of this report, had not provided the journalist with the documents requested. In response, a lawsuit has been filed on her behalf by the RCFP in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Azmat Khan was primarily pursuing the civilian casualties as a result of US aggression in Iraqi, Syrian and Afghan territory. The request was submitted after Khan had already published a detailed report on the civilian casualties that occurred as a result of US armed forces war effort against the Islamic State. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism extends its support to the journalist. Our organization, too, believes this is a violation of the right to information and the two year long delay appears to be a deliberate attempt to discourage the journalist from pursuing the story. Free press exists to hold power accountable and any attempt to curtail it is not only reprehensible but dangerous. The irony of a country whose foreign wars are rationalised through its ambition to export democratic principles, restricting a journalist's access to important documents is not lost either.