State Department talking points on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo. The main points being made are: 1) All accusations of mistreatment are taken seriously and fully investigated; 2) Torture and other forms of cruel treatment committed by or at the direction of any U.S. official are prohibited; 3) Should U.S. personnel witness such misconduct, they are instructed to intervene and report all such actions promptly to their superiors for thorough investigation and prosecution, as appropriate; and 4) The United States has a strong commitment to international law - including the precept of humanity reflected in the law of armed conflict.
United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 DEC 13 200• Case No. 200303827 Segment L013 Mr. Amrit Singh American Civil Liberties Union Foundation 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, New York 10004-2004 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 98 additional documents from the Office of the Legal Adviser that appear responsive to your request. We have grouped these documents as Segment L013. 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 L013, we have determined that six may be released in full and 37 may not be released. The released documents are enclosed. A decision on 28 documents requires coordination with another government agency. We will inform you once this coordination is completed. Twenty-seven documents originated with other government agencies and have been referred to those agencies for review and direct reply to you. The material in 19 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 24 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 - 2 - product privilege, and/or another privilege incorporated by subsection (b)(5). The material in one 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 exempt from release under subsection (b)(6) of the Freedom of Information Act. In some cases, two exemptions apply to the same document. Sincerely, Margaret P. Grafeld Director Office of Information Programs and Services Enclosures: As stated.