Congressional Record: May 14, 1999 (Extensions)
Page E966-E967
INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 1625--THE HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMATION ACT
______
HON. TOM LANTOS
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, May 13, 1999
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, recently I introduced in the House The Human
Rights Information Act (H.R. 1625), and joining me as the principal
cosponsor of this bill was Congresswoman Connie Morella, our
distinguished Republican Colleague from the State of Maryland. Our
legislation has already found strong bipartisan support with over 50 of
our distinguished colleagues joining as original cosponsors of this
bill. These men and women are leading voices in the defense of human
rights throughout the world, and recently many of them joined me at a
press conference announcing the introduction of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation is similar to legislation which I
introduced in the last Congress with the cosponsorship of Congresswoman
Morella. Our bill--H.R. 2635 of the 105th Congress--was considered and
favorably reported by the Subcommittee on Government Management,
Information, and Technology of the Committee on Government Reform in
the last Congress. I want to commend our colleague, Congressman Stephen
Horn, who chairs that Subcommittee, for his thoughtful consideration of
the legislation last year. I also want to thank Congressman Dennis
Kucinich, who served as Ranking Democratic Member of the Subcommittee
in the last Congress, for his help in the consideration of the
legislation last year.
Mr. Speaker, three simple principles are at the heart of the Human
Rights Information Act.
First, it is a fundamental obligation of our government to support
and protect human rights and democracy. This principle is central to
our democratic system of government. The constitutional codification of
our commitment
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to human rights, our Bill of Rights, not only has domestic implications
for Americans, but it also has inspired and encouraged countries around
the world in their own quest for freedom, democracy, and human rights.
Successive American Administrations have recognized our nation's strong
national commitment to human rights as a guiding principle and as one
of the highest obligations of our nation's foreign policy. The United
States has freely accepted our obligation to protect human rights under
international law by signing and ratifying various international human
rights treaties and covenants. It is also fundamental to any democratic
system of government that the public be fully informed about policies
directly affecting these most fundamental rights in order for the
people to make meaningful decisions with regard to their government and
to participate fully in the democratic process. The timely
declassification of documents pertaining to human rights violations
abroad, therefore, ought to be a paramount obligation of any U.S.
government agency.
Second, our nation's commitment to the promotion and protection of
human rights and democracy around the world has led us to make
tremendous diplomatic, economic, and military efforts to end systematic
human rights violations abroad. The United States government's efforts
are supported by numerous American and foreign non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) in the promotion of human rights and democracy.
These efforts would be in vain if we do not do all we can to uncover
and legally prosecute those who commit human rights abuses with
impunity. Only full investigation of human rights abuses in these areas
can really bring about the full accountability needed to develop
respect for human rights and to rebuild a peaceful and reconciled civil
society after civil conflict.
Third, democracy and human rights can flourish only where information
is fully available, and information is essential to the rule of law.
Without information and the rule of law, we will see human rights
violations and the erosion of democracy. Even in countries where
progress has been made, there is danger of regression if full
information and the rule of law are not scrupulously enforced.
A country currently facing this danger is Guatemala. As my colleagues
may know, just a few weeks ago, three gunmen entered the house of
Ronalth Ochaeta, the director of the Catholic Church's human rights
office. They put a gun to the head of his 4-year old son and left a box
with bricks behind. The bricks are an allusion to the assassination of
Bishop Gerardi a year ago, who was killed by a brick only days after
the Bishop issued his report on human right violations during the
period of the Guatemalan Civil War. The investigation of the Bishop's
death has not yet produced any results. In Guatemala recently,
President Clinton gave his word that the United States will never
forget its obligation to those people whose lives have been affected by
our policies, and who are now rightfully seeking the most basic of all
information which was not included in the recently released report by
the Guatemalan Truth Commission--What happened to their relatives and
loved ones, where are their bodies, and which individuals were
responsible for the disappearances and deaths?
Mr. Speaker, let me briefly outline the provisions of H.R. 1625:
Our bill specifies that 120 days after enactment of the legislation,
each U.S. government agency shall identify, review and organize all
records and documents relating to human rights abuses in Guatemala and
Honduras after 1944. The provisions of the legislation would also apply
to human rights violations in other areas of the world, but because of
the particularly serious problems of Guatemala and Honduras and the
reconciliation efforts currently under way there, these two countries
these are given particular focus in the bill.
The legislation would apply the declassification procedures of the
previously enacted JFK Assassination Records Act to human rights
records. This will assure that legitimate National Security concerns
are protected, but at the same time it will also assure that human
rights documents are given special priority. In order the assure that
records are not withheld for trival reasons, those records which
agencies seek to withhold would be reviewed by the Interagency Security
Classification Appeals Panel (an organization which was established by
Presidential Executive Order 12958) or any entity subsequently
established which fulfills the same functions of the Appeals Panel. Our
legislation would add two new members to the Appeals Panel (or the
entity that replaces it). These two positions would be filled by the
President with human rights experts who meet the security requirements
for membership on the panel. The President would be required to invite
recommendations for these positions from the human rights community.
Mr. Speaker, our legislation is an effort to assure that human rights
records and documents--which are essential for the identification and
prosecution of individuals involved in gross human rights abuses--are
made available to other countries in their pursuit and punishment of
human rights violators. At the same time the legislation recognizes and
carefully balances the national security and intelligence needs of the
United States.
I invite our colleagues in the House to join as cosponsors of this
important piece of legislation.