§4833 — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

A U.S. mission must send an initial report about a Serious Security Incident within 3 days when possible and begin an investigation right away. The Secretary must tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate majority and minority leaders, and the Speaker and House minority leader within 8 days after the Department finds a possible incident. That notice must give a short description, who is known to be involved, when and where it happened, and the planned next steps. Within 10 days after the mission’s report, the Secretary must order the Diplomatic Security Service to form an independent investigative team. The team must find out what happened, who did it or is suspected, whether security rules were followed, whether protections at U.S. facilities or movements were adequate given known threats, and whether failures by officials or staff helped cause the incident. The Secretary may change team members to avoid conflicts. The team must deliver a written report to the Security Review Committee within 90 days that covers those findings, lists casualties and damage, and reviews the security rules in effect. The team must protect classified and intelligence information; the Director of National Intelligence sets protection levels and the Security Review Committee sets the final report’s classification.

Title 22, §4833

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)A United States mission shall submit an initial report of a Serious Security Incident not later than 3 days after such incident occurs, whenever feasible, at which time an investigation of the incident shall be initiated.

(2)The Secretary shall notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives not later than 8 days after a possible Serious Security Incident has been identified by the Department. Such notification shall include a preliminary description of the incident, of an incident described in paragraph (1), including any known individuals involved, when and where the incident took place, and the next steps in the investigation.

(3)Not later than 10 days after the submission of a report pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall direct the Diplomatic Security Service to assemble an investigative team to investigate the incident and independently establish what occurred. Each investigation under this subsection shall cover—

(A)an assessment of what occurred, who perpetrated or is suspected of having perpetrated the Serious Security Incident, and whether applicable security procedures were followed;

(B)in the event the Serious Security Incident involved a United States diplomatic compound, motorcade, residence, or other facility, an assessment of whether adequate security countermeasures were in effect based on a known threat at the time of the incident;

(C)if the incident involved an individual or group of officers, employees, or family members under Chief of Mission security responsibility conducting approved operations or movements outside the United States mission, an assessment of whether proper security briefings and procedures were in place and whether weighing of risk of the operation or movement took place; and

(D)an assessment of whether the failure of any officials or employees to follow procedures or perform their duties contributed to the security incident.

(4)The investigative team assembled pursuant to paragraph (3) shall consist of individuals from the Diplomatic Security Service who shall provide an independent examination of the facts surrounding the incident and what occurred. The Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, shall review the makeup of the investigative team for a conflict, appearance of conflict, or lack of independence that could undermine the results of the investigation and may remove or replace any members of the team to avoid such an outcome.

(b)Not later than 90 days after the occurrence of a Serious Security Incident, the investigative team investigating the incident shall prepare and submit a Report of Investigation to the Security Review Committee that includes—

(1)a detailed description of the matters set forth in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection (a)(2), including all related findings;

(2)a complete and accurate account of the casualties, injuries, and damage resulting from the incident; and

(3)a review of security procedures and directives in place at the time of the incident.

(c)The investigative team investigating a Serious Security Incident shall adopt such procedures with respect to confidentiality as determined necessary, including procedures relating to the conduct of closed proceedings or the submission and use of evidence in camera, to ensure in particular the protection of classified information relating to national defense, foreign policy, or intelligence matters. The Director of National Intelligence shall establish the level of protection required for intelligence information and for information relating to intelligence personnel included in the report required under subsection (b). The Security Review Committee shall determine the level of classification of the final report prepared pursuant to section 4834(b) of this title, and shall incorporate the same confidentiality measures in such report to the maximum extent practicable.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2024—Subsec. (a)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 118–159, which directed amendment of “section 301(a)” of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 by adding par. (2), redesignating former pars. (2) and (3) as (3) and (4), respectively, and substituting “paragraph (3)” for “paragraph (2)” in par. (4), was executed to subsec. (a) of this section, which is section 303 of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. 2022—Pub. L. 117–263 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to procedures as to evidence, confidentiality, and records of Accountability Review Boards, and also to the status of the Boards. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 117–286, which directed substitution of “chapter 10 of title 5” for “the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.)”, could not be executed in light of the intervening general amendment of this section by Pub. L. 117–263. See Amendment note above. As so amended, section no longer included a subsec. (d) or a reference elsewhere to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the intelligence community deemed to be a reference to the Director of National Intelligence. Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency deemed to be a reference to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. See section 1081(a), (b) of Pub. L. 108–458, set out as a note under section 3001 of Title 50, War and National Defense.

§4833 Serious Security Incident Investigation Process