Letter from Margaret P. Grafeld, DOS to Amrit Singh, ACLU re: the ACLU's FOIA Request. The letter states that the document production requested is being complied with in some parts and denied or withheld in part.
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United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
art..9 - 2 202ti
Case No. 200303827 SWCI001
Mr. Amrit Singh
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
125 Broad Street, 18 th Floor
New York, NY 10004-2400
Dear Mr. Singh:
I refer to our previous correspondence regarding the release
of certain Department of State material you had requested
under the Freedom of Information Act (Title 5 USC Section
552) in your letters of October 7, 2003, and May 25, 2004.
The search in the records of the Office of the Ambassador at
Large for War Crimes Issues has been completed, resulting in
the retrieval of 85 documents that appear responsive to your
request. They have been grouped as Segment S/WCI 001. The
search in the other files has been completed and we will let
you know as the review of the various segments has been
accomplished.
After reviewing the documents of Segment S/WCI 001, we have
determined that 11 may be released, five may be released
with excisions, and 61 may not be released. The released
documents are enclosed. A decision on five documents
requires interagency or intra-agency coordination.
We will inform you when we receive the results of that
coordination. Three of these documents originated with
another government agency and have been referred to that
agency for review and direct reply to you.
The material in the excised portions of one of the documents
released in part and in 53 of the documents withheld in full
is currently and properly classified under Executive Order
‘.n
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12958 in the interest of national defense or foreign
relations. As such, it is exempt from release under
subsection (b)(1) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Information in the excised portions of one of the documents
released in part and in 41 of the documents withheld in full
is exempt from release under subsection (b)(5) of the
Freedom of Information Act because it is protected by the
deliberative process privilege, attorney client privilege,
attorney work product privilege, and/or another privilege
incorporated by subsection (b)(5).
The material in the excised portions of two of the documents
released in part is of such a nature that its release would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy. As such, it is exempt from release under
subsection (b)(6) of the Freedom of Information Act.
The material in five of the documents withheld in full is
information compiled for law enforcement purposes which, if
produced, could reasonably be expected to interfere with
enforcement proceedings. As such, it is exempt from release
under subsection (b)(7)(A) of the Freedom of Information
Act.
The material in the excised portions of three of the
documents released in part and in 11 of the documents
withheld in full is information compiled for law enforcement
purposes which, if produced, could reasonably be expected to
constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As
such, it is exempt from release under subsection (b)(7)(C)
of the Freedom of Information Act.
In some cases, two or more exemptions apply to the same
document.
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In the case of a document released in part, all non-exempt
material that is reasonably segregable from the exempt
material has been released.
Sincerely, as---1) Ma. garet P. Grafeld
Director
Office of Information Programs
and Services
Enclosures:
As stated.