And the American Civil Liberties Union has announced it will appeal the recent dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Khalid El-Masri against the US government. Masri is the German citizen who says he was kidnapped by the CIA and subjected to regular beatings and torture at a secret prison in Afghanistan. In May, a federal judge dismissed his case on the grounds it would jeopardize state secrets. ACLU attorney Ben Wizner said: “If this decision stands, the government will have a blank check to shield even its most shameful conduct from accountability,’’ he said.