unanimously rejected<\/a> Chiquita\u2019s argument, writing that, \u201cNeither the [Securities and Exchange] Commission nor the district court hearing this reverse-FOIA action thought release would deprive Chiquita of a fair trial. We agree with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThe court of appeals\u2019 decision is an important victory for FOIA requesters and the public,\u201d said Adina Rosenbaum, the Public Citizen attorney who represented the National Security Archive in the appeal. \u201cThe decision confirms that the government cannot withhold documents from the public just because they might be of interest to someone involved in litigation. A ruling for Chiquita would have created a huge exemption to the FOIA law, with far-reaching implications. The court did the right thing by rejecting Chiquita\u2019s argument that these records are exempt from disclosure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case began in November 2008, when the Archive filed a pair of FOIA requests with the SEC asking for records relating to SEC and Justice Department investigations of Chiquita\u2019s Colombian subsidiary, Banadex, for violations including the illegal AUC payments. In 2007, Chiquita had pled guilty to charges of \u201cengaging in unauthorized transactions\u201d with the AUC, which was designated a global terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 2001.<\/p>\n
The D.C. Circuit decision in the FOIA case clears the way for the release of 9,257 pages that Chiquita identified as the most sensitive records that it turned over to the SEC during the course of the investigations.<\/p>\n
In April 2011, the Archive published some 5,500 pages of Chiquita\u2019s records released by the Department of Justice in response to similar FOIA requests. Those records revealed that Chiquita benefitted from its transactions with both AUC \u201cparamilitary\u201d groups and insurgents from the FARC and ELN guerrilla groups. The records call into question the Justice Department\u2019s determination, spelled out in the 2007 plea deal, that there was no evidence of a quid pro quo with the illegal groups.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cMore than eight years ago, Chiquita became the first U.S. company to be convicted for engaging in transactions with a global terrorist organization,\u201d said Michael Evans, senior analyst at the National Security Archive. \u201cFinally the victims of AUC violence and the general public will get a look at what might be the most important document collection ever assembled on corporate ties to terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related Links:<\/p>\n
The Chiquita Papers<\/a>
\u201cDid your fruit fund terrorists?\u201d New Report Asks Why Chiquita Blocked 9\/11 Victims Bill<\/a>
Judge Rejects Chiquita\u2019s Effort to Block Release of Documents on Terror Payments<\/a>
The \u201cCost of Doing Business in Colombia\u201d<\/a>
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