This State Department memo addresses the issue of transferring and repatriating the Guantanamo detainees against the requirements of the Geneva Convention. The memo highlights the Geneva Convention provision which states, in part, "POWs shall be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities." and concludes "The US currently has no duty to repatriate the detainees because they are unlawful combatants, as opposed to POWs, and because hostilities are ongoing."
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Case No. 200303827
Segment L017
Mr. Amrit Singh
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor DEC 2 0 2004 New York, NY 10004-2400
Dear Mr. Singh:
I refer to our previous correspondence regarding the release
of certain Department of State material 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 114 additional documents from the Office
of the Legal Adviser that we have grouped as Segment L017.
After reviewing these documents, we have determined that
nine may be released, one may be released with excisions,
and 80 may not be released. The released documents are
enclosed. A decision on two documents requires interagency
coordination. We will inform you when we receive the
results of that coordination. Twenty-two documents
originated with other government agencies and have been
referred to those agencies for review and direct reply to
you.
Material in 44 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.
Material in one of the documents withheld in full is
specifically exempted from disclosure by statute, to wit,
the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 (Title 50 USC
Section 403g). As such, it is exempt from release under
subsection (b)(3) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Information in the one document released in part and in 62
of the documents withheld in full is exempt from release
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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).
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
1 Office of Information Programs
and Services
Enclosures:
As stated.