FOIA 10076

From Peace Corps Wiki

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act request. Specifically, you request the following information. Our response is in bold.

1) List with all volunteers who died in service from 1961 to present including the full name, country of service, date of death (day, month, and year), the group or date service started, site (if available for release), official cause of death, and (if available) the circumstances surrounding each incident including the location and conditions as well as the references to official records that state whether an investigation was or wasn't carried out.

We located 72 pages of responsive documents. It was determined that 48 pages are being withheld pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6), which protects the privacy interests of a decedent's survivors with respect to sensitive, often graphic, personal details about the circumstances surrounding an individual's death from public disclosure and 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(2), which prohibits from disclosure records related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency. The remaining 24 pages are releasable in their entirety and are attached.

2) Any accompanying documents or reference to official documents for each incident including any state department investigations. The FOIA requires requesters to "reasonably describe the records being sought." This means you must describe the actual document(s) you seek or provide sufficient details to permit a search with a reasonable effort utilizing existing indices or search tools. The law does not require an agency to create a record, collect information, conduct research, or analyze data. Broad, sweeping requests lacking specificity are not permissible. Accordingly, we are returning your request for refinement and no further action will be taken by our office. Once you have determined what records you are seeking, please resubmit your request. 3) All Peace Corps press releases for all incidents.

Attached please find 18 pages of responsive documents. These are the most responsive documents available. No pages have been withheld. We are providing this to you.

FOIA Request No.: 10-076 Page Two

You may appeal the denial of information within 20 calendar days from your receipt of this letter. The appeal should be sent to Earl Yates, Associated Director - Management, Peace Corps 1111 20th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20526. Both the appeal and envelope should be clearly marked "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT APPEAL."

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (202) 692-2167 or email me at [email protected]