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.
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520 www.state.gov
DEC 2 9
Case No. 200303827 L12
Mr. Amrit Singh
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
125 Broad Street, 18th 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.
We have retrieved 113 additional documents from the Office
of the Legal Adviser that we have grouped as Segment L12.
After reviewing these documents, we have determined that 13
may be released in full, 11 may be released with excisions
and 60 may not be released. A decision on 21 documents
requires interagency or intra-agency coordination. We will
inform you when we receive the results of that coordination.
Eight documents originated with other government agencies
and have been referred to those agencies for review and
direct reply to you.
The material in the excised portions of the 11 documents
released in part and in 56 of the documents withheld in full
is currently and properly classified under Executive Order
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 46 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 the nine documents
released in part and in 17 of the documents withheld in full
DOS-001147
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 the nine documents
released in part and in 17 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 the case of a document released in part, all non-exempt
material that is reasonably segregable from the exempt
material has been released.
Sincerely,
dATA.,e, A/
7C1-Margaret P. Grafeld
Director
Office of Information Programs
and Services
Enclosures:
As stated.
DOS-001148