Mandela and the CIA

STOP THE PRESSES!

"...the CIA viewed Mandela as a threat to American security..."


From Homeland Security News Wire: 

CIA sued over records surrounding the 1962 arrest of Nelson Mandela

9 January 2014

Ryan Shapiro, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Ph.D. candidate, filed a lawsuit yesterday (Tuesday) against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) over the spy agency’s failure to comply with his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records on the late Nelson Mandela. Shapiro wants to know why the CIA viewed Mandela as a threat to American security, and what actions the agency took to thwart Mandela’s efforts to advance racial justice and democracy in South Africa.

Shapiro, a FOIA specialist, is an historian of the policing of dissent and the political functioning of national security. A Sparrow Project release reports that his FOIA work has already led the FBI to declare his MIT dissertation research a threat to national security. Shapiro also has FOIA requests for records on Mandela in motion with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. Shapiro is represented by attorney Jeffrey Light.
The Sparrow Project describes its mission as providing publicity and creative direction for grassroots activists.

The release notes two key issues regarding yesterday’s filing against the CIA:

• The CIA is believed to have been involved in Mandela’s 1962 arrest which led to his decades-long incarceration. Yet, the agency has never admitted its role in this affair, and little specific public information exists on the matter. Shapiro’s FOIA efforts will begin to fill this hole in public knowledge of U.S. intelligence operations.

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