Activism Change

revised talking points

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Talking Points on the Human Rights Information Act     The Human Rights Information Act (H.R. 1625) will release (declassify) US government information about human rights violations in Honduras and Guatemala. The Human Rights Information Act is important because declassifying human rights information can help families, strengthen democratic institutions, and heal societies: * It can help grieving families achieve closure.  Families and survivors can come to terms with these traumas and recover the remains of the "disappeared" for examination and burial.    * It can confront impunity and strengthen the rule of law. Prosecutions of human rights criminals will be strengthened with this information and may deter other violators. * The information can help war-torn societies heal. As the truth is established, these societies can heal some of the wounds of their violent pasts. The Human Rights Information Act is needed because US declassification so far has been inadequate. * The State Department released hundreds of pages on Guatemala but relatively little has come from intelligence and defense agencies, the main repositories of such information. The Honduras documents have suffered a similar fate. * The Human Rights Information Act mandates that all agencies comply with a declassification order and ensures that decisions are reviewed so that only that which would "demonstrably" harm national security or harm life is retained. The Human Rights Information Act will not harm national security. * Section 5 allows an agency to postpone the disclosure of a document if there is "clear and convincing evidence" that this would endanger life, jeopardize an intelligence operation, or "demonstrably impair" the national security of the United States. * These standards are those that were established and passed in the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. For more information, please call Carlos Salinas at AIUSA (202) 544-0200, ext. 235. Attachment Converted: "c:eudoraattachTalkpotn.doc"

Response:

Filed under: Human Rights

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