SEATTLE — The CIA says it is not wrongfully withholding documents related to the Salvadoran civil war.
The agency filed its response Wednesday to a lawsuit brought by University of Washington law student Mina Manuchehri, a fellow at the university’s Center for Human Rights. Under the Freedom of Information Act, she sought documents related to retired Salvadoran Army Col. Sigifredo Ochoa Perez, who is under criminal investigation in his own country for alleged involvement in the killings of civilians during the civil war in the 1980s. She also requested records regarding UCLA professor Philippe Bourgois, who survived a massacre there.
The agency said the existence or nonexistence of any such documents is classified, but Manuchehri sued in federal court in October, arguing that the agency has posted at least one related document on its website.
In its response, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, the CIA denied wrongfully withholding the documents sought.
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