necessary, the agency head may withhold such 
records from public disclosure until the agency head 
determines, in consultation with the individual or en-
tity that submitted the request, that the need for 
confidentiality no longer exists. 
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
conduct of foreign relations of the United 
States, the disclosure of which would demon-
strably impair the national security of the 
United States; 
(2) the disclosure of the human rights record—
(A) would reveal the name or identity of a 
living individual who provided confidential in-
formation to the United States; and
(B) would pose a substantial risk of harm 
to such individual or to any member of the fam-
ily, friend, or associate of such individual; 
(3) the disclosure of the human rights record 
could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwar-
ranted invasion of personal privacy, and that inva-
sion of privacy would be so substantial that it out-
weighs the public interest; or 
(4) the disclosure of the human rights record 
would compromise the existence of an understanding
of confidentiality requiring protection between a 
United States Government agent and a cooperating 
individual or a foreign government, and disclosure 
would be so harmful that it outweighs the public in-
terest. 
(b) SPECIAL TREATMENT
OF CERTAIN INFORMA-
TION.—It shall not be grounds for postponement of disclo-
sure of a human rights record that an individual named 
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 Appeals 
Panel 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 public disclosure of human rights 
records by executive agencies. 
(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 re-
quired to be taken under this Act. For purposes of this 
Act, determinations by the Attorney General made on be-
half of the President under section 4(a) shall be subject
to the same standard of judicial review as determinations 
by the President.
SEC. 9. CREATION OF ADDITIONAL POSITIONS FOR AP-
PEALS PANEL. 
Two additional positions shall be created for the Ap-
peals Panel solely for purposes of carrying out the provi-
sions of this Act. In filling such positions, the President—
(1) shall appoint individuals who—
(A) were not involved in making deter-
minations that could be reviewed by the Ap-
peals Panel; 
(B) have demonstrated substantial human 
rights expertise; and 
(C) are able to meet the security require-
ments for such positions; and 
(2) shall seek recommendations with respect to 
such positions from nongovernmental human rights 
organizations.
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