MEMORANDUM FOR JOHN P FITZPATRICK Senior Director Records Access and Information Security Management National Security Council f- FROM WILLIAM P FISCHERI N Director National Declassification Center National Archives and Records Administration SUBJECT Argentina Declassification Project Na1rntive This nan-ative provides a detailed summary of actions by the National Archives and Records Administration NARA in response to a Presidential Tasking from the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council NSC on June 13 2016 The Presidential Task directed various Executive branch departments and agencies agencies to search for records relating to human rights abuses committed in Argentina between January 1 1975 and December 3 1 1984 and to review responsive records for public access In response NARA assembled staff including archivists from the National Declassification Center NDC the Presidential Libraries and the Center for Legislative Archives and developed a plan to complete the task In conducting its search NARA staff utilized search strategies focused on records and records series that were unprocessed or were otherwise not publicly available NARA staff used electronic and paper finding aids and other databases to identify responsive records and searched electronic and paper record files in classified and unclassified systems NARA staff evaluated records for responsiveness erring on the side of inclusiveness Those records initially determined to be responsive were reviewed for public access on a word-for-word basis using standards established in section 3 of Executive Order E O 13526 Classified National Security Information and common public release standards agreed to by all participating agencies The mission of NARA is to provide public access to Federal Government records in our custody and control Public access to government records strengthens democracy by allowing Americans to claim their rights of citizenship hold their government accountable and understand their history so they can participate more effectively in their government As our nation' s recordkeeper NARA was pleased to support this important project In all twenty five NARA staff members spent 1 280 hours searching for and reviewing responsive records for public access NDC staff the Presidential Libraries and Center for Legislative Archives searched over 740 cubic feet of records and identified over 1 300 records totaling approximately 9 000 pages Search Methodologies and Strategies NARA staff utilized the date range and the 19-page list of terms that the NSC provided to agencies and searched unprocessed or withdrawn Federal records Presidential records donated Presidential materials Congressional records and records previously withdrawn from public access NARA staff utilized electronic and paper finding aids accession dossiers and databases to search for collections series and accessions where responsive records may be located The search included both classified records as well as unclassified records For Federal Government records NARA staff worked collaboratively and included staff from Research Services and the NDC The NDC also worked closely with staff from the various agencies to identify potentially relevant series to search and ensure completeness NARA staff did not search records that are publicly available In fact many records related to U S policy towards Argentina during this time period are publicly available These records include electronic Department of State State cables various files from the Presidential Libraries and records of Congressional hearings and reports in the C nter for Legislative Archives NARA recommends that historians researchers and other users consult available researcher aids including the National Archives Catalog the Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives the Access to Archival Databases AAD findings aids at the Presidential Libraries and other finding aids to identify relevant records For additional information visit www archives gov research Presidential Libraries NARA staff at four Presidential Libraries participated in this project Staff from the Jimmy Carter Gerald R Ford and Ronald W Reagan Presidential Libraries searched their Presidential materials while staff at the George H W Bush Presidential Library searched their Vice Presidential materials These four Presidential Libraries searched their unprocessed and withdrawn records collections For additional information on collections searched as part of this project see Tab A Federal Records at NARA NDC staff were active participants in this project identifying various Federal records series and specific accessions to search for potentially responsive records and assisted agencies as they conducted additional searches The NDC staff also searched records from the 2015 Brazilian Human Rights Project and identified records that were not responsive to that specific request and therefore were not included in that public release In all NDC and agency staff identified approximately 400 documents totaling 4 630 pages These records were created by the Air Force Army Department of Justice Federal Bureau oflnvestigation Joint Staff U S Information Agency and Department of State and were found in accessioned paper records During review by NSC staff some of the records initially identified were determined to be nonresponsive and were not included in the final production The NDC staff also searched specific accessions from the U S Agency for International Development and the Department of Labor as the Labor Department periodically maintained a Labor Attache stationed at the U S Embassy in Buenos Aires during the 1970s No responsive records were identified Other agencies participating in this project have not accessioned records to NARA relating to this project These agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency the Defense Intelligence Agency the National Security Agency the Department of the Navy the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U S Southern Command These agencies have conducted separate searches of their records and will post all releasable records on their respective websites 2 State identified an additional 1 822 electronic cables While many of these electronic records are accessioned to NARA not all electronic cables have been accessioned For continuity purposes and to ease search these records were declassified and included as part of State's project and all responsive electronic cables are available on State's website for additional information see https foia state gov Search Collections aspx For additional information on Federal records searched at NARA for this project see Tab B NARA also accessioned a special collection of records from State identified as The State Department Special Collection Relating to Argentina This collection comprises approximately 786 documents totaling 3 495 pages These documents were collected from multiple agencies by State's Office of the Historian as historians conducted research for the Foreign Relations of the United States FRUS 1977-1980 Volume XXIV South America Latin America Region publication For further information on the declassification and publication of this FRUS volume please see State's narrative Records in the Special Collection while deemed important for understanding and illustrating U S policy toward Argentina during the Carter administration were not included in the published FRUS volume State conducted a declassification and public access review of these records and coordinated a declassification and public access review with other U S Government agencies with equity information in the records Interagency review of these records was coordinated by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and they are published as part ofNARA's release Once the NDC and agencies identified responsive records the NDC created declassification review projects for them scanning each paper record into digital format to allow agencies to review and if appropriate recommend redactions for information requiring continued restriction NDC staff also coordinated and managed all necessary referral review by agencies with equity ownership of information within each document NDC staff applied the NSC and State declassification waivers that allowed for streamlined public access review Records identified by NDC staff were reviewed by the appropriate agencies NDC staff applied redactions to the records and performed a quality assurance review prior to release Center for Legislative Archives The Center for Legislative Archives preserves and makes available to researchers the historical records of the U S House of Representatives House and the U S Senate Senate including the official Committee records Access to these records is subject to the rules of the House and Senate respectively The Center does not include the office records of individual Members of Congress - these records are considered personal and are maintained by the individual Member of Congress or her his designee often an archival institution affiliated with a university or college or historical society in the Member's district or State For Congressional records Center staff searched databases and finding aids for responsive official Committee records and other official records of Congress using the search terms from the NSC list of terms and the inclusive dates This search yielded 11 Congressional hearings and reports For additional information on them please see Tab C 3 Review Processes NARA does not have original classification authority therefore it relies on equity-owning agencies to review their classified national security information for declassification As NARA staff identified responsive records it applied the NSC and State waivers and declassified information where possible All remaining classified records were referred to those agencies with an equity interest Those agencies reviewed each record on a word-for-word basis redacting precise information that still requires continued classification in accordance with section 3 3 b ofE O 13526 and may not be publicly released Agencies primarily redacted information to protect sources and methods These redactions are indicated by a 25X 1 code on the record Pursuant to section 3 3 b l ofE O 13526 the release of this information should clearly and demonstrably be expected to reveal the identity of a confidential human source a human intelligence source a relationship with an intelligence or security service of a foreign government or international organization or a nonhuman intelligence source or impair the effectiveness of an intelligence method currently in use available for use or under development In other limited instances records were redacted for foreign policy reasons where release of_the information would cause serious harm to the ongoing diplomatic activities of the United States These redactions are indicated by a 25X6 code on the record Pursuant to section 3 3 b 6 ofE O 13526 the release of this information should clearly and demonstrably be expected to reveal information including foreign government information that would cause serious harm to relations between the United States and a foreign government or to ongoing diplomatic activities of the United States NARA staff screened each record for public release in accordance with relevant public access rules and regulations as well as the public access procedures for this project A small number of records were redacted in accordance with specific statutes These redactions are indicated by a FOIA B3 Freedom oflnformation Act Exemption 3 5 U S C 552 and cite the specific statute on the record In rare instances NARA staff also redacted specific information about specific individuals the disclosure of which would invade that individual's personal privacy These redactions are indicated by a FOIA B6 Federal records accessioned to NARA were processed by NDC staff who scanned all responsive records NDC staff applied the NSC and State waivers and declassified information where possible Other records required declassification review by equity-owning agencies NDC staff created special projects for these records and closely tracked progress in agency reviews including coordinating resolution of conflicting declassification determinations All responsive records from the four Presidential Libraries were shipped to the Presidential Materials Division in Washington D C It reviewed all responsive records and utilized the NSC and State declassification waivers where possible Those records that it could declassify were provided to the Government of Argentina and publicly released in August 2016 The Presidential Materials Division forwarded those records it was unable to declassify to the NSC staff so it could coordinate declassification review by equity-owning agencies The NSC staff compiled the results of those reviews These records were provided to the Government of Argentina and publicly released in December 2016 4 Conclusion In response to the final task of this project NARA ultimately identified 1 004 responsive Federal documents totaling 7 165 pages relating to human rights abuses in Argentina during the period specified After review of these records NARA in consultation with equity-holding agencies is pleased to release 804 documents in full totaling 5 713 pages and 186 documents in part totaling 1 394 pages 14 documents totaling 58 pages were denied in full on the basis of their continued classification and or statutory protection These totals are in addition to the 1 664 pages released by Presidential Libraries in previous tasks Questions regarding NARA's search and review should be directed to Don Mcilwain Chief Classified FOIA and MDR Division NDC Don mcilwain L·v nara gov or 301 837-0587 5 TAB A - Presidential Library files searched Gerald R Ford Presidential Library • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office Files 1969-77 National Secwity Advisor Backchannel Messages 1974-77 focused on boxes 2-3 National Secwity Advisor Memoranda of Conversations National Security Advisor Latin American Affairs Staff Files National Security Advisor Outside the System Chronological Files National Secwity Advisor Presidential Agency Files Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders National Secwity Advisor Presidential Country Files for Latin America Scowcroft Daily Work Files focused on box 2 Trip Briefing Books and Cables of Henry Kissinger Trip Briefing Books and Cables of President Ford Trip Cables of Brent Scowcroft White House Situation Room Evening Reports from NSC Staff White House Situation Room Noon and Evening Notes White House Situation Room Presidential Daily Briefings White House Central Files Subject Files Countries CO Jimmy Carter Presidential Library • • • • • • • • • • Records of the Office of the National Secwity Advisor - Brzezinski Material Country Files · Records of the Office of the National Secwity Advisor - Brzezinski Material Subject Files Records of the Office of the National Secwity Advisor - Brzezinski Material Staff Evening Reports Files Records of the Office of the National Security Advisor - Brzezinski Material Office Files Records of the Office of the National Secwity Advisor- Staff Material North South Records of the Office of the National Security Advisor - Staff Material Global Issues Records of Zbigniew Brzezinski National Security Institutional Files White House Central Files Subject Files Countries White House Central Files Subject Files Foreign Affairs Ronald W Reagan Presidential Library • • • • NSC Coordination Office Series NSC Counterterrorism and Narcotics Series NSC Executive Secretariat Cable Files NSC Executive Secretariat Country Files 6 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • NSC Executive Secretariat Head of State Files NSC Latin American Affairs Directorate Files Stephen Danzansky Files Ludlow Kim Flower Files Roger W Fontaine Files Michael A Guhin Files Robert Kimmett Files Sven F Kraemer Files Nelson C Ledsky Files William F Martin Files Edwin Meese II Files Constantine C Menges Files Oliver L North Files Brenda Reger Files Ronald K Sable Files Alphonso Sapia-Bosch Files Jonathan R Scharfen Files George P Shultz Papers Jennifer Tillman Files David G Wigg Files White House Office of Records Management Subject File Countries George H W Bush Presidential Library • Vice President Bush Collection o Office of National Security Affairs o Office of the Chief of Staff o Office of Administration o Press Office 7 TAB B - Federal Records Accessioned to NARA Records searched but responsive records not identified • • Department of Labor records o RG 174-Bureau oflnternational Affairs 1947-94 Accession LTI-0174-20140017 o RG 174 - Bureau of International Affairs 1956-85 Accession NN3-174-05-002 o RG 174- Bureau oflnternational Labor Affairs 1965-94 Accession LTI-01742014-0016 U S Agency for International Development records o RG 286-Bureau for Latin America 1975 NDC Project NND 64982 o RG 286 - Bureau for Latin America 1972-75 NDC Project NND 65438 Records searched or accessioned with responsive records • • • General Records of the Department of State o RG 59 - Counterterrorism Program Files entry UD-13W-38 o RG 59 - Country Files Relating to Counterterrorism entry UD-09D-5 o RG 59-Terrorism Incident Files entry UD-09D-1 o RG 59 - Country Files Relating to Latin American Countries Refugee Program entry UD-07D-14 7 o RG 59-Records Relating to Terrorism and Counterterrorism entry UD-13D-30 o RG 59-Files of Carlyle E Maw entry UD-07D-107 o RG 59-Bureau of Inter-American Affairs Records Relating to Argentina entry Al-5747 o RG 59 - Human Rights Country Files entry UD-06D-28 o RG 59 - Human Rights Country Files entry UD-1 0D-1 o RG 59 - Human Rights Country Files entry UD-1 0D-3 o RG 59- Subject Files Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs entry UD-l0D-8 o RG 59 - Subject Files Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs entry UD-l0D-8 o RG 59-Records Relating to Argentina Argentina Special Collection entry UD18D-5 General Records of the Department of Justice o RG 60 - Classified Files of Attorney General Griffin B Bell entry UD-WW5113 o RG 60 - Classified Files of the Special Assistant to the Attorney General entry UD-WW-5118 o RG 60- Classified Subject Files of the Attorney General entry P-368 o RO 60 - Classified Subject Files of the Deputy Attorney General Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation o RO 65 - Classification 109 Headquarters entry UD-16D-15 8 • • • • • o RG 65 - Classification 105 Headquarters entry UD-16D-7 o RG 65 - Classification 100 Headquarters entry P-186 o RG 65 - Classification 100 New York Field Office entry P-184 o RG 65 - Classification 100 San Francisco Field Office entry P-167 Records of Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State o RG 84 - Subject Files Multiple posts including Buenos Aries entry UD-1 0D-22 o RG 84 - Subject Files of Diplomatic Posts Includes Bueno Aries entry UD13 W-2 o RG 84- Foreign Service Posts Subject Files Includes Buenos Aries UD-14D17 Records of the U S Joint Chiefs of Staff o RG 218 - Records of General George S Brown entry UD-05D-3 o RG 218 - Official Files Maintained by the NSC Affairs Office entry UD-06D-11 o RG 218 - Official Files of Charles David Jones entry UD-08D-1 Records of the U S Information Agency o RG 306 - Country Files for Argentina Paraguay Uruguay and Ecuador entry UD-14W-9 Records of the Army Staff o RG 319-Foreign National Visit Arrangement Files entry UD-15W-5 o RG 319-Foreign National Tour Arrangement Files entry UD-12W-45 Records of Headquarters U S Air Force Air Staff o RG 341 -Mission Correspondence Files U S Air Force Chief of Staff entry UD-06W-91 9 TAB C - Center for Legislative Archives • • • • • • • • • • • Human Rights in Argentina Hearings before the House Committee on International Relations Sub-Committee on International Organizations September 28-29 1976 Reference Y4 In8 16 H88 13 Human Rights and U S Policy House Committee on International Relations print December 31 1976 Human Rights Hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee SubCommittee on Foreign Assistance March 4 1977 Reference Y4 F76 2 H88 6 Foreign Assistance and Related Agencies Appropriations for FY 1978 Part 3 Hearings before the House Appropriations Committee Sub-Committee on Foreign Operations Appropriations April 5 1977 Reference Y4 Ap6 1 F76 3 978 pt 3 Study Mission to Latin America September 1977 Reference S Doc 95-67 Human Rights Conditions in Selected Countries and the U S Response Congressional Research Service Report for the House International Relations Committee SubCommittee on International Organizations July 25 1978 Reference Y4 ln8 16 H88 30 Human Rights and the phenomenon of Disappearances Hearings before the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on International Organizations September 20 1979 September 25 1979 and October 18 1979 Reference Y4 F76 1 H88 13 Ottawa Summit and U S International Economic Policy Hearings before the Joint Economic Committee July 14 1981 pages 2-62 Reference Y4 Ec7 Ot8 Human Rights and U S Policy in the Multilateral Development Banks Hearings before the House Banking Finance and Urban Affairs Committee Sub-Committee on International Development Institutions and Finance July 21 181 and July 23 1981 Reference Y4B22 1 97-20 U S Policy Toward Argentina Hearings before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Sub-Committee on Western Hemisphere Affairs March 16 1983 Reference Y4 F76 l Ar3 Human Rights in Argentina Chile Paraguay and Uruguay Hearings before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Sub-Committee on Human Rights and International Organizations and Sub-Committee on Western Hemisphere Affairs Reference Y4F76 1 H88 30 10