from the Congressional Record: September 25, 1997 (Senate)
Page S9969-S9976
By Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Bumpers, and Mrs.
Murray):
S. 1220. A bill to provide a process for declassifying on an
expedited basis certain documents relating to human rights abuses in
Guatemala and Honduras; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
the human rights information act
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Human Rights
Information Act--legislation designed to facilitate the
declassification of certain United States documents that relate to past
human rights abuses in Guatemala and and Honduras. This act would
ensure the prompt declassification of information by all relevant U.S.
Government agencies concerning human rights abuses, while providing
adequate protection to safeguard U.S. national security interests.
Timely declassification of relevant materials would be of enormous
assistance to the Guatemalan and Honduran people who are at this moment
confronting past human rights violations as part of ongoing efforts to
strengthen democratic institutions in those countries, particularly
their judiciaries.
This bill would ensure prompt and complete declassification within
the necessary bounds of protection of national security. It would
require Government agencies to review for declassification within 120
days all human rights records relevant to inquiries by the Honduran
human rights commissioner and the Guatemalan Clarification Commission.
An interagency appeals panel would review agencies decisions to
withhold information. The bill follows declassification standards
already enacted by Congress in the JFK Assassination Records Act but is
much simpler and less expensive than that law.
Honduran Human Rights Commissioner Leo Valladares has already made a
request of the United States
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Government for any relevant documents concerning Honduran human rights
violations and particularly those alleged to have been perpetrated by
Honduran military Battalion 3-16 that resulted in more than 184
killings or disappearances in the early 1980's.
The Guatemalan Clarification Commission, which was set up by the
December 1996 peace accords to establish a historical record of the
massive human rights violations that occurred during more than three
decades of civil war, is expected shortly to make a similar request for
relevant United States documents concerning this period. The U.S.
Government is, properly, offering financial assistance to the
clarification commission. The United States should also support the
commission's important work to end impunity by providing relevant
declassified documents.
While it is true that the Clinton administration has already
declassified some documents related to Honduras and Guatemala, by
Executive order, such declassifications have been very narrowly
focused. And, despite a number of letters from Congress requesting
prompt action, the administration's response to the longstanding
request by Honduran Human Rights Commissioner Valladares, which was
first submitted in 1993, has been slow and partial.
Moreover, although the administration officially agreed to honor the
Honduran request, many of the documents released to date have been
heavily excised, yielding little substantive information. The State
Department has turned over 3,000 pages, but other agencies have been
much less forthcoming. For example, the CIA has released 36 documents
concerning Father Carney, a United States priest killed in Honduras,
and 97 documents pertaining to 5 other key human rights cases. Most are
heavily excised. The Department of Defense has released 34 heavily
excised documents, but almost nothing that relates to the activities of
Battalion 3-16.
The administration has also declassified numerous documents on
Guatemala in response to public demands. These focus, however, on
approximately 30 cases of human rights abuses directed against
Americans in Guatemala. The cases of Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna
Mack and guerrilla leader Efrain Bamaca, husband of American lawyer
Jennifer Harbury, were exceptions. In May of this year, the CIA also
released an important batch of documents concerning its 1954 covert
operation in Guatemala. However, thousands of documents on human rights
violations that could be of interest to the clarification commission
remain classified. Many of the documents already declassified were
heavily excised, and, as in the Honduran case, the intelligence and
defense agencies were less forthcoming than the State Department.
Mr. President, I would hope that my colleagues can join me in voting
for the Human Rights Information Act. This will send a very powerful
signal of support for efforts to strengthen democracy and the rule of
law throughout the hemisphere. It will also greatly assist Latin
Americans who are currently bravely working to shed light upon a dark
period of their recent pasts so that they can prevent such heinous
abuses from occurring in the future.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 1220
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the "Human Rights Information
Act".
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Agencies of the Government of the United States have
information on human rights violations in Guatemala and
Honduras.
(2) Members of both Houses of Congress have repeatedly
asked the Administration for information on Guatemalan and
Honduran human rights cases.
(3) The Guatemalan peace accords, which the Government of
the United States firmly supports, has as an important and
vital component the establishment of the Commission for the
Historical Clarification of Human Rights Violations and Acts
of Violence which have Caused Suffering to the Guatemalan
People (referred to in this Act as the "Clarification
Commission"). The Clarification Commission will investigate
cases of human rights violations and abuses by both parties
to the civil conflict in Guatemala and will need all
available information to fulfill its mandate.
(4) The National Commissioner for the Protection of Human
Rights in the Republic of Honduras has been requesting United
States Government documentation on human rights violations in
Honduras since November 15, 1993. The Commissioner's request
has been partly fulfilled, but is still pending. The request
has been supported by national and international human rights
nongovernmental organizations as well as members of both
Houses of Congress.
(5) Victims and survivors of human rights violations,
including United States citizens and their relatives, have
also been requesting the information referred to in
paragraphs (3) and (4). Survivors and the relatives of
victims have a right to know what happened. The requests have
been supported by national and international human rights
nongovernmental organizations as well as members of both
Houses of Congress.
(6) The United States should make the information it has on
human rights abuses available to the public as part of the
United States commitment to democracy in Central America.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Human rights record.--The term "human rights record"
means a record in the possession, custody, or control of the
United States Government containing information about gross
human rights violations committed after 1944.
(2) Agency.--The term "agency" means any agency of the
United States Government charged with the conduct of foreign
policy or foreign intelligence, including the Department of
State, the Agency for International Development, the
Department of Defense (and all of its components), the
Central Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance
Office, the Department of Justice (and all of its
components), the National Security Council, and the Executive
Office of the President.
SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION, REVIEW, AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF
HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS REGARDING GUATEMALA AND
HONDURAS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the provision of this Act shall govern the
declassification and public disclosure of human rights
records by agencies.
(b) Identification of Records.--Not later than 120 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall
identify, review, and organize all human rights records
regarding activities occurring in Guatemala and Honduras
after 1944 for the purpose of declassifying and disclosing
the records to the public. Except as provided in section 5,
all records described in the preceding sentence shall be made
available to the public not later than 30 days after a review
under this section is completed.
(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 150 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the President shall report to
Congress regarding each agency's compliance with the
provisions of this Act.
SEC. 5. GROUNDS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF
RECORDS.
(a) In General.--An agency may postpone public disclosure
of a human rights record or particular information in a human
rights record only if the agency determines that there is
clear and convincing evidence that--
(1) the threat to the military defense, intelligence
operations, or conduct of foreign relations of the United
States raised by public disclosure of the human rights record
is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest, and
such public disclosure would reveal--
(A) an intelligence agent whose identity currently requires
protection;
(B) an intelligence source or method--
(i) which is being utilized, or reasonably expected to be
utilized, by the United States Government;
(ii) which has not been officially disclosed; and
(iii) the disclosure of which would interfere with the
conduct of intelligence activities; or
(C) any other matter currently relating to the military
defense, intelligence operations, or conduct of foreign
relations of the United States, the disclosure of which would
demonstrably impair the national security of the United
States;
(2) the public disclosure of the human rights record would
reveal the name or identity of a living individual who
provided confidential information to the United States and
would pose a substantial risk of harm to that individual;
(3) the public disclosure of the human rights record could
reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy, and that invasion of privacy is so
substantial that it outweighs the public interest; or
(4) the public disclosure of the human rights record would
compromise the existence of an understanding of
confidentiality currently requiring protection between a
Government agent and a cooperating individual or a foreign
government, and public disclosure would be so harmful that it
outweighs the public interest.
(b) Special Treatment of Certain Information.--It shall not
be grounds for postponement of disclosure of a human rights
record that an individual named in the
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human rights record was an intelligence asset of the United
States Government, although the existence of such
relationship may be withheld if the criteria set forth in
subsection (a) are met. For purposes of the preceding
sentence, the term an "intelligence asset" means a covert
agent as defined in section 606(4) of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 426(4)).
SEC. 6. REQUEST FOR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS FROM OFFICIAL
ENTITIES IN OTHER LATIN AMERICAN CARIBBEAN
COUNTRIES.
In the event that an agency of the United States receives a
request for human rights records from an entity created by
the United Nations or the Organization of American States
similar to the Guatemalan Clarification Commission, or from
the principal justice or human rights official of a Latin
American or Caribbean country who is investigating a pattern
of gross human rights violations, the agency shall conduct a
review of records as described in section 4 and shall
declassify and publicly disclose such records in accordance
with the standards and procedures set forth in this Act.
SEC. 7. REVIEW OF DECISIONS TO WITHHOLD RECORDS.
(a) Duties of the Appeals Panel.--The Interagency Security
Classification Appeals Panel (referred to in this Act as the
"Appeals Panel"), established under Executive Order No.
12958, shall review determinations by an agency to postpone
public disclosure of any human rights record.
(b) Determinations of the Appeals Panel.--
(1) In general.--The Appeals Panel shall direct that all
human rights records be disclosed to the public, unless the
Appeals Panel determines that there is clear and convincing
evidence that--
(A) the record is not a human rights record; or
(B) the human rights record or particular information in
the human rights record qualifies for postponement of
disclosure pursuant to section 5.
(2) Treatment in cases of nondisclosure.--If the Appeals
Panel concurs with an agency decision to postpone disclosure
of a human rights record, the Appeals Panel shall determine,
in consultation with the originating agency and consistent
with the standards set forth in this Act, which, if any, of
the alternative forms of disclosure described in paragraph
(3) shall be made by the agency.
(3) Alternative forms of disclosure.--The forms of
disclosure described in this paragraph are as follows:
(A) Disclosure of any reasonably segregable portion of the
human rights record after deletion of the portions described
in paragraph (1).
(B) Disclosure of a record that is a substitute for
information which is not disclosed.
(C) Disclosure of a summary of the information contained in
the human rights record.
(4) Notification of determination.--
(A) In general.--Upon completion of its review, the Appeals
Panel shall notify the head of the agency in control or
possession of the human rights record that was the subject of
the review of its determination and shall, not later than 14
days after the determination, publish the determination in
the Federal Register.
(B) Notice to president.--The Appeals Panel shall notify
the President of its determination. The notice shall contain
a written unclassified justification for its determination,
including an explanation of the application of the standards
contained in section 5.
(5) General procedures.--The Appeals Panel shall publish in
the Federal Register guidelines regarding its policy and
procedures for adjudicating appeals.
(c) Presidential Authority Over Appeals Panel
Determination.--
(1) Public disclosure or postponement of disclosure.--The
President shall have the sole and nondelegable authority to
review any determination of the Appeals Board under this Act,
and such review shall be based on the standards set forth in
section 5. Not later than 30 days after the Appeals Panel's
determination and notification to the agency pursuant to
subsection (b)(4), the President shall provide the Appeals
Panel with an unclassified written certification specifying
the President's decision and stating the reasons for the
decision, including in the case of a determination to
postpone disclosure, the standards set forth in section 5
which are the basis for the President's determination.
(2) Record of presidential postponement.--The Appeals Panel
shall, upon receipt of the President's determination, publish
in the Federal Register a copy of any unclassified written
certification, statement, and other materials transmitted by
or on behalf of the President with regard to the postponement
of disclosure of a human rights record.
SEC. 8. REPORT REGARDING OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS.
Upon completion of the review and disclosure of the human
rights records relating to Guatemala and Honduras, the
Information Security Policy Advisory Council, established
pursuant to Executive Order No. 12958, shall report to
Congress on the desirability and feasibility of
declassification of human rights records relating to other
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report
shall be available to the public.
SEC. 9. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) Freedom of Information Act.--Nothing in this Act shall
be construed to limit any right to file a request with any
executive agency or seek judicial review of a decision
pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Judicial Review.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to preclude judicial review, under chapter 7 of
title 5, United States Code, of final actions taken or
required to be taken under this Act.
SEC. 10. CREATION OF POSITIONS.
For purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act,
there shall be 2 additional positions in the Appeals Panel.
The positions shall be filled by the President, based on the
recommendations of the American Historical Association, the
Latin American Studies Association, Human Rights Watch, and
Amnesty International, USA.
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