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 www.state.gov
DEC 2 9 2004
Case No. 200303827 L32
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 249 additional documents from the Office
of the Legal Adviser that we have grouped as Segment L32.
After reviewing these documents, we have determined that 22
may be released, two may be released with excisions, and 177
may not be released. The released documents are enclosed.
Decisions on two documents require interagency or intraagency coordination. We will inform you when we receive the
results of that coordination. Forty-six 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 document
released in part and in 120 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 176 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 two of the documents withheld in full is of
such a nature that its release would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, it is
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exempt from release under subsection (b)(6) of the Freedom
of Information Act.
The material in the excised portions of one document
released in part and in eight 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 four 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. 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,
Margaret P. Grafeld
Director
Office of Information Programs
and Services
Enclosures:
As stated.
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