SEATTLE — The CIA has turned over 139 documents to settle a lawsuit brought by the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights.
The Seattle Times reports that the university’s researchers have been looking into alleged abuses by U.S.-backed troops during El Salvador’s civil war, which lasted from 1980 until 1991. They sued when the agency failed to turn over documents they sought under the Freedom of Information Act.
The settlement, reached last week in U.S. District Court in Seattle, brought the release of documents related to former El Salvadoran Col. Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez and his potential ties to the U.S. Some of the documents were formerly designated top secret, and some have never before been seen outside the agency.
The Center for Human Rights’ director, Angelina Snodgrass Godoy, said she was pleased with the settlement.
