Congressional Record: June 16, 1999 (Extensions)
Page E1277-E1279
HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS SUPPORT
HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMATION ACT, H.R. 1625
______
HON. TOM LANTOS
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 16, 1999
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, recently I introduced in the House The Human
Rights Information Act (H.R. 1625). This legislation has already found
strong bipartisan support with over 50 of our distinguished colleagues
joining as original cosponsors of this bill.
When our legislation was introduced, prominent human rights leaders
and victims of human rights abuses joined us at a press conference
announcing the legislation. Their comments about the Human Rights
Information Act and their personal and professional insights regarding
this legislation are particularly helpful.
Mr. Speaker, I ask that the statements these human rights leaders
made regarding the Human Rights Information Act be placed in the
Record. These outstanding statements are by Dr. William F. Schultz,
Executive Director of Amnesty International USA; Adriana Portillo-
Bartow, a Guatemalan mother whose eldest two daughters were kidnapped
and disappeared and have not been seen for the past 17 years; Sister
Dianna Ortiz, a Roman Catholic nun who was abducted, tortured and
repeatedly raped by members of the Guatemalan security forces; and
Carlos M. Salinas, the Advocacy Director for Latin America and the
Caribbean of Amnesty International.
Statement of Dr. William F. Schultz, Executive Director, Amnesty
International USA
Good afternoon. I'm Dr. William F. Schultz, Executive
Director of Amnesty International USA. I join my esteemed
colleagues today to support legislation that addresses the
tragic legacy of political violence: torture, assassinations,
``disappearances,'' and massacres. This legislation will put
criminals behind bars and help families heal from their
devastating losses at the hands of brutal torturers and
thugs.
Over the past few decades, we witnessed immense suffering
in Guatemala and Honduras. The fierce counterinsurgency
campaign by Guatemalan military governments beginning in the
1960s left 200,000 dead or ``disappeared'' according to the
Guatemalan Truth Commission. The campaign became one of a
``scorched earth strategy'' in which hundreds of villages
were wiped out in what the Trust Commission called acts of
genocide. Thousands of men, women and children were killed--
often after brutal torture or in more than 600 wholesale
massacres, according to the Commission. Thousands more were
``disappeared''--never to be seen again.
The politically-driven violence in Honduras during the
1980s resulted from a deliberate strategy by the government
and military to treat non-combatant civilians as military
targets. This ``dirty war'' meant torture, assassination and
``disappearance'' for student activists, teachers,
journalists, trade unionists, human rights lawyers and
leftist politicians.
Out of the ashes of this bloody history has risen
legislation vital to the promotion and protection of human
rights--not only in Honduras and Guatemala but in every
country in the world. The Human Rights Information Act orders
the declassification or release of U.S. government documents
about human rights violations when the U.S. receives a
request from a bona fide truth commission or judicial
authority. It will give survivors of torture and
``disappearances'' information about who was responsible for
their abuse and the reasons why they were targeted. It also
will allow family members to recover the remains of their
``disappeared'' loved ones.
Amnesty International is proud to support the Human Rights
Information Act and our activists are ready to mobilize for
its passage. Last year, we brought over 100,000 petitions and
letters to Congress--and we will bring 100,000 more this
year, if need be. I believe that every American watching the
Kosovo crisis unfold would support this Act as a means to
ensure justice for the thousands of refugees we see on our
television screens each day.
There are three compelling reasons why Congress must pass
this Act.
First, the Human Rights Information Act is profoundly pro-
family. The Act will help families torn apart by torture,
assassination or ``disappearances'' heal and find some
measure of closure in the wake of brutality.
Second, the Human Rights Information Act will fight crime.
The perpetrators of human rights violations are responsible
not for dozens or even hundreds of brutalities but for tens
of thousands of crimes against humanity. As a great forensic
anthropologist Dr. Clyde Snow said, ``[t]he great mass
murderers of our time have accounted for no more than a few
hundred victims. In contrast, states that have chosen to
murder their own citizens can usually count their victims by
the carload lot. As for motive, the state has no peers, for
it will kill its victim for a careless word, a fleeting
thought, or even a poem.'' Assassins, torturers, those who
order the brutalities and those who cover them up, however,
are rarely punished, sometimes amnestied and often never
prosecuted. Successful prosecutions will punish and put
behind bars human rights violators who may still be involved
in criminal activity. And it will send an unequivocal message
that human rights violations will not be tolerated.
Third, the Human Rights Information Act will strengthen
democracy. It will deter future violators and strengthen the
rule of law. It will tell the world that no one is above the
law and it will restore citizens' confidence in their legal
institutions.
The wounds from atrocities committed in Guatemala, Honduras
and many other countries cannot heal until the whole truth
about human rights violations is revealed. Families and
survivors need to know--and have the right to know--who
ordered the killings, why their loved ones were tortured and
killed, and where to find their ``disappeared'' loved ones.
If simply telling the whole truth, as the Human Rights
Information Act will do, helps thousands of families heal
from some of the worst crimes known to humanity, how can we
not reveal it?
Statement of Ms. Adriana Portillo-Bartow, a Guatemalan Mother
My name is Adriana Portillo-Bartow and I am a survivor of
the war in Guatemala. I am also a mother who for the last 17
years has had to live without knowing the truth about the
whereabouts of her two oldest daughters, kidnapped and
disappeared by Guatemalan security forces in 1981.
My daughters Rosaura and Glenda, 10 and 9 years old at the
time of their disappearance, were detained, together with my
70 year old father, my step-mother, one of my sisters-in-law,
and my 18 month old sister, on September 11, 1981, by a large
group of military and police forces. They have never been
seen or heard from since.
I waited 15 years for the appropriate political conditions
to exist in Guatemala so I could begin the search for the
truth about the whereabouts of my disappeared family. I have
been back to Guatemala eight times since December 1996, when
the Final Peace Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace was
signed.
Eight trips to Guatemala I have made in my pursuing of the
truth, without any results. On each of my trips I have met
with the Guatemalan Presidential Human Rights Commission, I
have met with the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman Office, I
have met with many non governmental human rights
organizations. I have met with U.S. Embassy officials. I have
even tried pursuing the truth through the Guatemalan judicial
system, which everybody knows does not work. The case of my
disappeared family is Illustrative case #87 in the Historical
Clarification Commission's report ``Guatemala: Memory of
Silence''. And no one has been able to help me, or has wanted
to help me.
Because of that, now, more than ever, I am hunted by the
memories of my disappeared father, of my little daughters,
and of my other relatives. For the past seventeen years I
have not slept, unless through the use of artificial means,
because I am afraid of waking up to a nightmare of my
disappeared children being eaten by dogs and vultures. Some
days I am hunted by images of their
[[Page E1278]]
bodies abandoned in shallow graves in a clandestine cemetery,
somewhere in Guatemala. Other days I am hunted by the
possibility of my little daughters and sister having been
given up for adoption--illegally--to a family in a foreign
country.
When will I be able to leave my torment behind? When will I
be free from the ongoing torture it means for me not knowing
what became of my daughters? When will I be able to be at
peace with myself? Only the day I find out the truth about
what happened to my disappeared family. Only the day I am
able to recover their remains for a proper and dignified
burial.
The passing of the Human Rights Information Act by Congress
is of critical importance to the relatives of the disappeared
in Guatemala. It can offer people who find themselves in the
position I am now the real possibility of learning the truth
about the whereabouts of their disappeared relatives. It can
offer mothers like me an end to the painful and everlasting
effects of the most sophisticated form of torture; the
disappearance of our children. Furthermore, it can offer
mothers like me the possibility of family reunification if
our children survived--and if they didn't, the opportunity to
bury them and mourn their loss in a healthy and dignified
manner.
President Clinton acknowledged on March 10 of this year,
while in Guatemala, that the involvement of the United States
in the horrors that took place during the war was wrong, and
that it had been a mistake that must not be repeated again.
He said that the United States must and will continue to
support the peace and reconciliation process in Guatemala.
Truth and Justice are the foundation of Peace. The passing of
the Human Rights Information Act by Congress is a very
concrete step that can be taken, for the United States to
truly play a historical role in the process towards
reconciliation and an everlasting peace in Guatemala.
As a Guatemalan, and as the mother and sister of three
little girls that disappeared during the long war in
Guatemala I feel that the contribution of the United States
to the suffering of the Guatemalan people constitute a moral
obligation to assist all of us, relatives of the disappeared,
in our search for the truth about the whereabouts of our
loved ones. Only the day the full truth of what happened is
known, and dealt with, will we be able to say that the
suffering the Guatemalan people has endured for so many years
is finally a tragedy of the past. Only the day we know the
full truth will we be sure that the ``mistake'' President
Clinton referred to will not be repeated again--in Guatemala
or in any other country of the world.
____
Statement of Sister Dianna Ortiz, a Roman Catholic Nun
Let me begin by thanking Representatives Lantos and Morella
for inviting me to share my thoughts on the importance of the
Human Rights Information Act. Two days ago it became all the
more evident to me that we must do everything in our means to
make certain this bill is enacted. Let me share with you some
of my story.
In November of 1989, I was abducted, tortured and
repeatedly raped by members of the Guatemalan security
forces. During my detention, just as my torturers were
readying themselves to rape me yet again, a man came into the
clandestine cell, a man my tortures referred to as Alejandro,
and their boss [jefe]. He was tall; he was fair-skinned; and
he spoke poor Spanish with a heavy North American accent. He
gave explicit orders to my torturers, which they obeyed, and
he warned me not to say anything about my torture--telling
me--in American English--that if I did, there would be
consequences.
For nearly a decade, I have spent the majority of my waking
hours trying to learn the truth of what happened on November
2, 1989. I have spoken openly of what I witnessed and
experienced at the hands of the three Guatemalans and
Alejandro. In turn, I have been told that I must be mistaken:
The U.S. Government would never conspire with human rights
violators, let alone provide them leadership. It has even
been suggested to me that I am ``obsessed'' with Alejandro. I
have been advised to concentrate on my Guatemalan abusers
alone, instead of tainting the reputation of the U.S.
Government. But no one will answer my two single questions:
Why was there an American in a Guatemalan secret prison,
giving orders to torturers? Who authorized him to be there?
No one in Guatemala will tell me the truth. And no one in
the United State will tell me the truth. For nearly ten
years, I have gone from one battlefield to another--asking
for the truth for myself and for the people of Guatemala.
Following the advice of so many people, I went through all
the proper channels. I filed charges in Guatemala and
cooperated with Guatemalan government investigators,
traveling to Guatemala on numerous occasions to testify and
participate in judicial reconstructions. I soon learned that
justice in Guatemala is a mirage. The judicial system did not
work then--and does not work now. The investigation of the
murder of Monsenor Gerardi is a clear example of how impunity
continues to reign.
The next battlefield was in my homeland--the United States.
Even in my country of origin, government officials refused to
provide me with information. and so I thought--file a FOIA
request--you're sure to get answers. Documents were
released--but they contained no information of substance. In
August of 1995, I was told that the Justice Department had
begun a serious and impartial investigation of my case.
Putting aside my feelings of mistrust, I took the risk of
working closely with the investigators. This entailed being
interviewed by investigators for more than forty hours;
having to relate every detail of the humiliation and cruelty
I suffered at the hands of my tortures; going into dangerous
and painful flashbacks brought on by the detailed questions.
Under such prolonged stress, I lost a portion of the ground
that I had gained in my recovery.
But I steeled myself and did all I could for as long as I
could to help the investigation along. I hoped that, this
time, I might be told the truth. There were warning signs,
however--signs that I was wrong. One of the DOJ attorneys
openly yelled at me and accused me of lying. And as I heard
about the investigators' interviews with my family and
friends, it became clear that I was being cast as the
culprit, that I was the one being investigated, not those
responsible for the crimes against me. After giving almost
all of my testimony, I made the decision to disengage myself
from direct participation in the DOJ investigation.
Perhaps I am a coward--but I could no longer subject myself
to the retraumatization brought on by the investigators'
questions and their abusive treatment. They had my testimony
in detail and the sketches I had made with the help of a
forensic artist. The responsibility for finding the truth lay
with them.
Shortly after taking this step, I learned that the Justice
Department had concluded its investigation. What did the
Justice Department officials conclude after a year of
investigating my case? What did they glean from the countless
hours I and my friends and family spent pouring out our
hearts to them? I don't know. I'm not allowed to know.
Investigators made a report of more than 284 pages--and
classified it. They cited a need to protect ``sources and
methods''--and MY privacy. How thoughtful of them.
Investigators assured me that this report would be kept so
secret that it would be seen only by the Attorney General,
the Deputy Attorney General and the official in charge of the
investigation. Four copies of this report exist, they told
me, and they are under lock and key.
I have since learned that the classified report was made
available to few privileged people, including former
ambassador Thomas Stroock, who is not even associated any
longer with the U.S. Government. This is how the DOJ
protected my privacy.
The investigation has not helped me one iota and has not
helped the American people. The report is about the event
that shattered my life, about the event that tore my past
from me. The report is about the event that destroyed my
sense of myself, my relationships with others and my
relationship with God. The report was about the event that
has stolen my ability to sleep and to feel safe in the world.
I am the one who is tormented by all the questions
surrounding that event. And now I have even more. Why is it
that the Justice Department refuses to answer my questions?
Who are they protecting? What are they covering up?
On June 26th, 1998, I filed a FOIA request, asking the U.S.
Government to declassify the report. Again, I allowed myself
to hope. During President's Clinton visit to Guatemala, I
allowed that hope to grow. Mr. Clinton publicly acknowledged
U.S. complicity in human rights violations. Finally, I
thought, our government has owned up. The need for secrecy is
obsolete. I'll get the report.
Two days ago, I learned from my attorney that the FOIA
officer for the U.S. Attorney General's Office denied my FOIA
request in full. Why? To protect their sources and methods?
What sorts of methods? Torture? To protect the identities of
my Guatemalan torturers and the American, Alejandor? Why is
it that those who commit human rights violations merit
protection while those of us who suffer these abuses at their
hands receive none?
Perhaps only another survivor who has been betrayed again
and again by her government can know what I feel standing
here. I'm tried and all I want to do is close my eyes and not
wake up. I literally had to force myself to come here today.
The feelings of disillusionment and aloneness are enough to
overwhelm me. But I am here.
The words that resound in my head over and over again are:
``The truth will set you free.'' Those words are found in
scripture. Ironically enough, these same words are etched on
the entrance to that cathedral of secrecy, the CIA. I believe
the truth would set me free. I will never feel safe in my own
country until I know exactly what the role of my government
was in my abduction and torture. How can I feel safe? How can
anyone feel safe, if the truth is being concealed? If this is
a country concerned with righting the wrongs of the past and
the wrongs of our world, our government has nothing to lose
by disclosing the truth. It owes that much to the survivors
of the political violence we sponsored in Guatemala, Honduras
and countless other countries. It owes that much to those of
us who paid the taxes. The secret prison was in Guatemala.
The prison of secrecy is here. The Human Rights Information
Act could be the key.
____
Statement of Carlos M. Salinas, the Advocacy Director for Latin America
and the Caribbean of Amnesty International
I think it's clear that there is real momentum for passage
of the Human Rights Information Act--and why shouldn't it be
this way?
[[Page E1279]]
In the last Congress, the bill went from introduction to
mark-up in less than a year even though most observers were
surprised that it even got a hearing! But what most observers
did not count with the perseverance of Congressman Lantos,
Congresswoman Morella, Chairman Horn, then-ranking member
Kucinich, and all of their incredibly dedicated and hard-
working staffs. The observers did not count on the fact that
there were many others ready and willing to add their names
and prestige to this effort for truth and justice--so many
more than 100 House members became co-sponsors in less than a
year! Many observers underestimated the tenacity and
perseverance of amazing people like Adriana Portillo-Bartow,
Jennifer Harbury, Sister Dianna Ortiz, Meredith Larson, Dr.
Leo Valladares Lanza, and so many others.
Washington conventional wisdom, continuing to insist that
true intelligence reform is destined to oblivion, did not
count on the fact that the yearning for truth and justice is
a million times greater than the strongest bureaucratic
inertia, that the search for truth will always overpower
obfuscation and stonewalling, and that the American people
and its elected representatives know and are committed to
truly putting people first, to truly strengthening families,
to truly fighting crime.
And so, thanks to tens of thousands of voices from Hawaii
to Florida, and Maine to Alaska, we hear the message: pass
the Human Rights Information Act. This message is supported
by organizations like the Latin America Working Group, the
Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA, the Washington Office
on Latin America, the Religious Task Force on Central America
and Mexico, I could go on and on!
So we begin anew our quest for the truth, our quest for
justice, with the knowledge that both republicans and
Democrats, Chairs and Ranking members, have shown and are
showing their support for a bill that could rend the web of
secrecy and lies that keep the public from finding out what
it is entitled to know, that keep family members from healing
and reaching closure, that keep criminals, mass murderers,
torturers, and assorted thugs on the streets, well, we gotta
stop that and we will change the law. This law is for you,
Dianna. This law is for you, Jennifer. This law is for you,
Adriana. This law is for you, Anne [Larson, mother of human
rights worker Meredith Larson who survived a stabbing attack
in Guatemala City in 1989]. Indeed, this law is for all of
us, for a better tomorrow, for a more just today.