[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 59 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4842-S4843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            JENNIFER HARBURY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, imagine a government, a democracy, whose 
officials withheld information about its involvement in the death of 
one of its citizens, and lied about its knowledge of the torture and 
death in a secret prison of the spouse of another of its citizens.
  Imagine if at least one of the people connected to those atrocities 
had been trained by that government, paid by that government, and 
continued to receive payments of tens of thousands of tax dollars even 
after the government knew of his crime.
  It would be bad enough if I were talking about a foreign government, 
but I am not. I am talking about the United States, where an American 
citizen, Jennifer Harbury, practically had to starve herself in order 
to get her government to admit that it had information about the fate 
of her husband, Efrain Bamaca, who disappeared in Guatemala in 1992.
  Ms. Harbury fasted for 32 days before she was told that, contrary to 
what she, I and other Senators had been told by both the Guatemalan 
Government and the State Department, her husband had been captured by 
the Guatemalan army and tortured.
  The Guatemalan army, many of whose members were trained in the United 
States at the School of the Americas, claimed Mr. Bamaca had shot 
himself. Then, when it turned out that someone else was in the grave 
where they said he was buried, they denied he had ever been captured.
  Then they tried to discredit Ms. Harbury, who unfortunately for them 
was not intimidated. Two years ago a witness told her that her husband 
had been captured alive and tortured, but she could not prove it and 
the administration did little to find the truth until the press stories 
about her hunger strike became too embarrassing.
  Even today, the Guatemalan army denies it captured Bamaca, and the 
Guatemalan Government says it has no information about his fate even 
though it has had the information for at least a month.
  Mr. President, I was sickened, as were we all, by the murder of the 
Jesuit priests in El Salvador, by soldiers trained in the United 
States. Almost as bad was the attempt of the Salvadoran army, including 
the Minister of Defense who for years had been coddled by American 
officials, to cover up its involvement in that heinous crime and so 
many other atrocities there.
  But here we have a situation where the CIA, presumably believing by 
some
 twisted logic that it was furthering some national interest, 
reportedly paid a Guatemalan colonel, probably one of many, who it 
believed was involved in torture and murder.

  The CIA continued its payments to Colonel Alpirez even after it had 
information about his connection with the murder of an American 
citizen, Michael DeVine.
  According to reports, the CIA sent millions of dollars to the 
Guatemalan military even after the Bush administration cut off military 
aid on account of the Guatemalan military's cover-up of the DeVine 
murder.
  I remember that, Mr. President, because I was among those who urged 
the cut-off of aid, and I was assured by the State Department that it 
had been cut off. Now we learn that was false, because the CIA was 
secretly keeping the money flowing.
  The CIA withheld information about Colonel Alpirez' involvement in 
the DeVine and Bamaca murders, even while President Clinton and State 
Department officials were saying publicly that the U.S. Government had 
no information.
  And now we have reports that the U.S. Army and the National Security 
Agency not only may have known about those murders, but may have 
recently tried to conceal their involvement by shredding documents.
  Mr. President, that is deplorable. What national interest does that 
serve? What is served by the CIA withholding information from the 
President of the United States? What message does it send, for our 
Ambassador to be telling the Guatemalan army how much we value 
democracy and human rights, when the CIA is paying them to commit 
torture and murder, and to betray their own Government?
  Those soldiers knew there were criminals in their own ranks who were 
on our payroll, while our Ambassador was making lofty speeches about 
human rights.
  The State Department said it had stopped aid to the Guatemalan 
military to send a message about the murder of Michael DeVine, while 
the CIA was subverting that policy by paying them under the table. What 
national interest did that serve?
  You would have thought we learned our lesson after so many similar 
episodes during the 1980's in Central America, but obviously the CIA 
never did. It orchestrated the overthrow of the Guatemalan Government 
in 1954. During the Reagan years, the CIA repeatedly behaved like it 
was above the law, and apparently little has changed. Even when the 
sordid truth came out, the CIA's response was that it had not
 known about Colonel Alpirez' involvement at the time the crimes 
occurred. What a typical, feeble attempt to hide its own responsibility 
during the years since.

  Mr. President, our goals in Central America today should be 
unambiguous. They are democracy, human rights, civilian control of the 
armed forces, and economic development for all people. Absolutely no 
national interest is served by subverting those goals.
  Before we lecture the Guatemalans about democracy and human rights, 
maybe we should pay attention to what is going on in our own country. I 
am very encouraged by reports that President Clinton has a 
governmentwide review of these allegations, and has said that anyone 
who intentionally withheld information will be dismissed. That would 
send a strong message that there is a price for this kind of outrageous 
behavior.
  I am also pleased that the White House has ordered that all documents 
relating to these allegations be preserved. I only wish someone had 
thought to do that weeks or months ago.
  [[Page S4843]] Jennifer Harbury has been trying to get the facts 
about her husband ever since she learned for sure that he was captured 
alive. She still does not know when her husband died, how he died, who 
killed him and what was done with his body. She is like the widows and 
mothers of tens of thousands of other Guatemalan victims of the army's 
brutality and impunity, but at least one would hope that her own 
Government would give her whatever information it has that might lead 
to answers.
  Any information concerning the fate of Ms. Harbury's husband should 
be promptly turned over to her.
  Mr. President, the deaths of Michael DeVine and Efrain Bamaca are but 
two examples of the tragic consequences of many disgraceful 
relationships our intelligence agencies have cultivated in Central 
America. They have given money and protection to the worst criminals. 
They have withheld information from the White House, the State 
Department and the Congress, and from American citizens who are the 
victims of their intrigues. They have even behaved like criminals 
themselves.
  What is this intelligence for? It causes the murder of innocent 
people. It corrupts. It obstructs justice. It is contrary to our 
policy. There is no national interest in that.
  Mr. President, with a new director of intelligence about to take 
office, it is long past time to take whatever steps are necessary, and 
I mean whatever steps, to ensure that this kind of activity stops once 
and for all. People paid by the CIA should be warned that they will not 
be shielded if they commit murder or other gross violations of human 
rights. And the Congress should have prompt access to information from 
any government agency about the fate of American citizens or their 
relatives. If the law needs to be changed to make that happen, then let 
us change the law.


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