Michael Evans on the work of the National Security Archive in the USA

Senior Analyst at the National Security Archive, Washington DC, USA

The National Security Archive was founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to challenge government secrecy in the USA and in Latin America. It holds a collection of declassified copies of government and security documents, mainly from the United States. The documents are obtained through research and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in the USA and other countries, e.g. Mexico. Listen to Michael explain how the National Security Archive uses the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to US government and military files that shed light on human rights abuses committed in other countries, particularly in Latin America.

Content:

• National Security Archive
• Using the Freedom of Information Act in the USA
• The archive and transitional justice processes in other countries
• Addressing the role of the USA in other countries
• What can other archives learn from the National Security Archive?