I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1152
To promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law by providing
a process for executive agencies for declassifying on an expedited basis
and disclosing certain documents relating to human rights abuses in
countries other than the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 21, 2001
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GILMAN, Mr.
SHAYS, Mr. HORN, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr.
OWENS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr.
TOWNS, Mr. UPTON, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mrs.
MALONEY
of 
New 
York, 
Ms. 
NORTON, 
Mr. 
CUMMINGS, 
Mr.
BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TURNER, Mr.
ALLEN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CLAY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DELAHUNT,
Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OLVER, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, 
Mr. 
NADLER, 
Mr. 
TRAFICANT, 
Mr. 
MOAKLEY, 
Mr.
MCDERMOTT, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms.
MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GEORGE MIL-
LER of California, Mr. FILNER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr.
COSTELLO, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr.
MCNULTY, Mr. LUTHER, Mr. BARRETT, Mr. HOLT, Mr. DOYLE, Mr.
STARK, Ms. RIVERS, Ms. WATERS, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms.
VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. UNDERWOOD, and Mr. SANDLIN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
A BILL
To promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law
by providing a process for executive agencies for declas-
sifying on an expedited basis and disclosing certain docu-
ments relating to human rights abuses in countries other
than the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Rights Infor-
mation Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The commitment to the promotion and pro-
tection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of
law around the world has led the United States to
undertake tremendous diplomatic, economic, and
military efforts to end systematic gross human
rights violations abroad, consistent with the national
interests and international leadership role of the
United States. Such efforts are thwarted if the cycle
of impunity for human rights violations in countries
other than the United States is not broken, and the
likelihood of the need for renewed United States en-
gagements in those countries remains.
(2) The United States has a significant interest
that newly established or reestablished democratic
societies take credible steps to fully investigate and
prosecute human rights violations. Such steps could
include the creation of a national or international
truth commission or tribunal, the appointment of a
human rights officer, or the leading of official na-
tional investigations by credible sections of the civil
society, including churches and nongovernmental or-
ganizations.
(3) Executive agencies are in possession of doc-
uments pertaining to gross human rights violations
abroad that are needed by foreign authorities to doc-
ument, investigate, and subsequently prosecute in-
stances of continued and systematic gross human
rights violations, including those directed against
citizens of the United States.
(4) The overwhelming importance to the United
States of investigations by foreign authorities of
gross human rights violations and the urgency of re-
quests for legal assistance which the United States
will continue to receive from foreign entities require
a systematic process of expedited declassification
and disclosure of documents pertaining to such gross
human rights violations.
(5) Only an expedited systematic process can
help ensure timely investigations of perpetrators of
gross and systematic human rights violations and
provide families with urgently needed information
regarding the fate of relatives, including information
making possible the location, identification, and bur-
ial of the remains of family members who have been
killed, bringing closure for those families and begin-
ning the process of national reconciliation.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 
HUMAN
RIGHTS
RECORD.—The 
term
‘‘human rights record’’ means a record in the pos-
session, custody, or control of the United States
Government containing information about gross vio-
lations of internationally recognized human rights
committed in a country other than the United
States.
(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means the
National Archives and Records Administration (and
all the Presidential libraries it maintains), the Na-
tional Security Council, the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, and any executive agency of the
United States Government charged with the conduct
of foreign policy or foreign intelligence, including,
but not limited to, the Department of State, the De-
partment of Justice, the Department of Defense, the
Central Intelligence Agency, the Agency for Inter-
national Development, and the National Reconnais-
sance Office.
(3) GROSS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONALLY
RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘gross vio-
lations of internationally recognized human rights’’
has the meaning given that term in section
502B(d)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)).
(4) INTERNATIONAL
BONA
FIDE
REQUEST.—
The term ‘‘international bona fide request’’ means a
request for a human rights record from an indi-
vidual or entity (such as an entity created by the
United Nations, a regional international organiza-
tion, a national truth commission, or the principal
justice or human rights official of a country) that is
carrying out an official mandate to investigate a pat-
tern of gross violations of internationally recognized
human rights, pursuant to a proceeding that—
(A) is a credible examination or investiga-
tion conducted in accordance with the mandate
of the entity or official;
(B) is carried out in accordance with inter-
national law, including laws regarding appro-
priate jurisdiction of the person or entity car-
rying out the proceeding; and
(C) does not threaten to violate due proc-
ess or other internationally recognized human
rights.
SEC. 4. DETERMINATIONS REQUIRED REGARDING RE-
QUESTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS.
(a) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—If the President
or the head of an agency receives a request for a human
rights record from an individual or entity (such as an enti-
ty created by the United Nations, a regional international
organization, a national truth commission, or the principal
justice or human rights official of a country) that is car-
rying out an official mandate to investigate a pattern of
gross violations of internationally recognized human
rights, not later than 60 days after the receipt of such
request the President (or the Attorney General on behalf
of the President) shall make a determination whether such
request is an international bona fide request.
(b) PROCEDURES IN CASE OF POSITIVE DETERMINA-
TION.—If the President or Attorney General makes a de-
termination that a request under subsection (a) is an
international bona fide request, not later than 120 days
after the date that the President or Attorney General
makes such determination, the heads of the appropriate
agencies shall identify, review, and organize all human
rights records with respect to such request for the purpose
of declassifying and disclosing the records to the public.
Except as provided in section 5 and subsection (d), all
records described in the preceding sentence shall be made
available to the public not later than 30 days after the
date that a review under this subsection is completed.
(c) PROCEDURES IN CASE OF NEGATIVE DETER-
MINATION.—If the President or Attorney General makes
a determination that a request under subsection (a) is not
an international bona fide request, such determination,
and a detailed explanation regarding such determination,
shall be published in the Federal Register not later than
90 days after the date that such request is received.
(d) REQUESTS FOR DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS ON
CONFIDENTIAL BASIS.—The head of an agency disclosing
human rights records as a result of a positive determina-
tion under subsection (b) shall honor a request of the indi-
vidual or entity that submitted the request for the
records—
(1) to disclose such records to the individual or
entity on a confidential basis; and
(2) to not disclose such records to the public
until 30 days after the date that the individual or
entity notifies the agency that the confidentiality of
such records is no longer required.
SEC. 5. GROUNDS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF DISCLOSURE OF
RECORDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency may post-
pone disclosure of a human rights record or particular in-
formation in a human rights record under this Act only
if the head of the agency determines that there is clear
and convincing evidence that—
(1) the threat to the military defense, intel-
ligence operations, or conduct of foreign relations of
the United States that would result from disclosure
of the human rights record is of such gravity that
it outweighs the public interest, and such disclosure
would reveal—
(A) an intelligence agent whose identity re-
quires protection;
(B) an intelligence source or method—
(i) which is being utilized, or reason-
ably expected to be utilized, by the United
States Government;
(ii) which has not been officially dis-
closed; 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
in the human rights record was an intelligence asset of
the United States Government, although the existence of
such relationship may be withheld if any of the criteria
set forth in subsection (a) are met. For purposes of the
preceding sentence, the term ‘‘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. REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS TO WITHHOLD
RECORDS.
(a) DUTIES OF THE APPEALS PANEL.—The Inter-
agency Security Classification Appeals Panel (referred to
in this Act as the ‘‘Appeals Panel’’), or any successor or-
ganization, shall review all determinations by the head of
an agency to postpone disclosure of a record under this
Act.
(b) DETERMINATIONS OF THE APPEALS PANEL.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Appeals Panel may up-
hold a determination by the head of an agency to
postpone disclosure of a record under this Act only
if the Appeals Panel determines that there is clear
and convincing evidence that—
(A) the record is not a human rights
record; or
(B) the record or particular information in
the record qualifies for postponement of disclo-
sure under section 5.
(2) TREATMENT
IN
CASES
OF
NONDISCLO-
SURE.—If the Appeals Panel concurs with an agency
decision to postpone disclosure of a record under
this Act, the Appeals Panel shall determine, in con-
sultation with the head of the 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 under this paragraph are
the following:
(A) Disclosure of any reasonably seg-
regable portion of the human rights record
after deletion of the portions described in para-
graph (1)(B).
(B) Disclosure of a record that is a sub-
stitute for information that is not disclosed.
(C) Disclosure of a summary of the infor-
mation in the human rights record.
(4) NOTIFICATION OF DETERMINATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon completion of a
review under this section, the Appeals Panel
shall notify the head of the agency in control or
possession of the record that was the subject of
the review of its determination and shall, not
later than 14 days after the determination, pub-
lish the determination in the Federal Register.
(B) NOTICE TO PRESIDENT.—The Appeals
Panel shall notify the President of a determina-
tion under this section. The notice shall contain
a written unclassified justification for the deter-
mination, including an explanation of the appli-
cation of the criteria set forth in section 5.
(5) 
GENERAL
PROCEDURES.—The 
Appeals
Panel shall publish in the Federal Register guide-
lines regarding its policy and procedures for adjudi-
cating appeals under this section.
(c) PRESIDENTIAL REVIEW OF APPEALS PANEL DE-
TERMINATIONS.—
(1) DISCLOSURE OR POSTPONEMENT OF DIS-
CLOSURE.—The President shall have the sole and
nondelegable authority to review any determination
of the Appeals Panel under this Act, and such re-
view shall be based on the criteria set forth in sec-
tion 5. If the Appeals Panel overturns the deter-
mination of the head of an agency to withhold
records from declassification, not later than 30 days
after the Appeals Panel’s determination and notifi-
cation to the head of the agency under subsection
(b)(4), the President shall provide the Appeals Panel
with an unclassified written certification specifying
the President’s determination and stating the rea-
sons for the decision, including, in the case of a de-
termination to postpone disclosure, the criteria set
forth in section 5 that are the basis for the Presi-
dent’s determination.
(2) RECORD
OF
PRESIDENTIAL
POSTPONE-
MENT.—The Appeals Panel shall, upon receipt of
the President’s determination, publish in the Federal
Register a copy of any unclassified written certifi-
cation, statement, and other materials transmitted
by or on behalf of the President with regard to the
postponement of disclosure of a record under this
Act.
SEC. 7. IDENTIFICATION, REVIEW, AND PUBLIC DISCLO-
SURE OF CERTAIN HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency
shall identify, review, and organize all human rights
records regarding activities occurring in Guatemala and
Honduras for the purpose of declassifying and disclosing
such 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
the date that a review under this section is completed.
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 150 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President
shall report to Congress regarding each agency’s compli-
ance with the provisions of this section.
SEC. 8. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the provisions of this Act shall govern the de-
classification and disclosure of human rights records by
executive agencies.
(b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—Nothing in
this Act shall be construed to limit any right to file a re-
quest with any executive agency or seek judicial review of
a decision pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States
Code.
(c) 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 re-
quired to be taken under this Act.
SEC. 9. CREATION OF ADDITIONAL POSITIONS FOR AP-
PEALS PANEL.
Two additional positions shall be created for the Ap-
peals Panel (or any successor organization) solely for pur-
poses of carrying out the provisions of this Act. In filling
such positions, the President—
(1) shall appoint individuals who are not em-
ployees of the United States who have demonstrated
substantial human rights expertise and who are able
to meet the security requirements for such positions;
and
(2) shall seek recommendations with respect to
such positions from nongovernmental human rights
organizations.
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