U.S. Can Conceal Records on Guatemalan Violence

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Last Update: 11:08 AM PT
U.S. Can Conceal Records on Guatemalan Violence

(CN) - The U.S. government has no duty to release records on the violence that a group of individuals or their loved ones suffered in Guatemala in the 1970s and 1980s, the D.C. Circuit ruled. The court backed the government's claim that the documents are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

The petitioners individually sought records on past incidents of violence, including a fatal plane crash in 1976, the abduction and disappearance of family members in 1981, and the 1983 murder of one petitioner's father in Guatemala.

The National Security Agency and the CIA withheld part or all of the requested records under two FOIA exemptions.

The first exemption protects national security or foreign policy secrets, while the other covers records "specifically exempted from disclosure by statute."

Government agencies can also refuse to confirm or deny the existence of certain records, known as the Glomar response - a tactic the government used with some of the petitioners.

More:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/05/12/U_S_Can_Conceal_Records_on_Guatemalan_Violence_.htm