[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 153 (Thursday, September 28, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1875-E1876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     STATEMENT OF CAROL ANN DEVINE AS READ BY BIANCA JAGGER AT THE 
        CONGRESSIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1995

                                 ______


                       HON. ROBERT G. TORRICELLI

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 1995

  Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following statement and 
recommend it to my colleagues:

       On June 8, 1990, my husband, Michael Vernon DeVine, was 
     kidnapped and almost completely decapitated by members of the 
     Guatemalan military. Michael was a kind, gentle, and honest 
     man. He devoted himself to our family and our business, and 
     was a good friend to our neighbors in Popun, Peten where we 
     lived. He was not politically active.
       After Michael's assassination, many wonderful people 
     supported my children and me in our efforts to find out who 
     killed Michael and why, and to bring to justice those 
     responsible for his murder. Remarkably, six soldiers were 
     convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prision. One officer, 
     Captain Hugo Contreras, was also convicted. The day that he 
     was sentenced, Captain Contreras was allowed to escape from 
     the military base at which he was held. As is typical in 
     Guatemala, no other officer was held responsible. Anyone at 
     all familiar with Guatemala knows that it would be impossible 
     for a group of low-ranking Guatemalan soldiers to travel by 
     army vehicle 100 kms, as Michael's killers did, to murder a 
     U.S. citizen without orders and promises of protection from 
     their superiors. Several officers, including Colonels 
     Guillermo Portillo Gomez, Julio Roberto Alpirez, and Mario 
     Roberto Garcia Catalan, were clearly implicated in ordering 
     the murder or the attempted cover-up, but they were never 
     brought to justice.
       In March of this year, I was stunned to learn that 
     Congressman Robert Torricelli had received information that 
     Colonel Alpirez, whom we had always suspected of involvement, 
     had indeed been a paid asset of the CIA, and had helped at 
     least to facilitate and cover-up my husband's murder. 
     Congressman Torricelli's revelations raised serious questions 
     about the role of various U.S. government agencies in 
     handling Michael's death. Consequently, the White House 
     ordered a government-wide inquiry to answer these questions, 
     as well as questions raised about other Guatemalan human 
     rights cases. I am indebted to Congressman Torricelli for 
     making public information about Alpirez and allegations of 
     U.S. Government wrongdoing, and for insisting on serious 
     investigations.
       As shocked as we were by the disclosure of possible U.S. 
     Government misconduct related to Michael's assassination, my 
     children and I became hopeful that we would finally learn the 
     complete truth about Michael's death. I have since filed 
     dozens of Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] requests, 
     cooperated with U.S. government investigators who are 
     assigned to examine the circumstances of my husband's murder, 
     and met with members of Congress.
       Now, however, I am becoming increasingly discouraged that 
     we will never learn the full truth of what happened to 
     Michael, why he was murdered, or what part the U.S. 
     government may have played. My children and I were especially 
     discouraged after reading the four-page summary of the 700-
     page CIA report, part of which focused on my husband's 
     case. I believe that the summary report sidesteps all the 
     basic questions about Michael's murder, and contains 
     misleading statements.
       For example, we still do not know the details of what the 
     CIA knew and when, and why the CIA continued its relationship 
     with Colonel Alpirez after having information that he was 
     connected to Michael's assassination. We also do not know why 
     the CIA eventually decided to terminate its relationship with 
     Alpirez.
       In addition, the summary report makes no mention of facts 
     which have already been publicly established, such as 
     Alpirez's role in facilitating the murder by providing the 
     assassins with a place to stay, and attempting to cover up 
     military responsibility. This omission is quite misleading, 
     and appears, inexplicably, to be an attempt to cast Alpirez 
     in a positive light. I also believe that it is misleading for 
     the CIA to say that it is aware of no information indicating 
     that its ``employees'' were involved, while failing to 
     mention paid assets such as Alpirez.
       Equally troubling is the CIA's failure to release its full 
     report. It is obviously impossible to respond to some of the 
     conclusions in the summary report without knowing the basis 
     for those conclusions. How can I or anybody else be confident 
     that there was no involvement on Colonel Alpirez's part in 
     ordering Michael's murder, or that there is no other 
     information about CIA wrongdoing, without at least knowing 
     what the full report says? The failure to disclose anything 
     more than a four-page summary makes me wonder what the CIA is 
     trying to hide.

[[Page E 1876]]

       I gather that a number of people who have seen the full CIA 
     report believe it to be unsatisfactory in many respects. 
     Based on the contents of the CIA's summary report, I can well 
     imagine that the full report is seriously flawed. I hope that 
     all of you here today will encourage the CIA to conduct 
     further investigations and to release publicly the full 700-
     page report so that answers can be provided to the many 
     unresolved questions in the case.
       The inadequacy of the CIA's investigation and its failure 
     to disclose the basis for its findings makes me seriously 
     doubt how much I, or the United States and Guatemalan people, 
     will ever really learn about what happened, and the role of 
     the United States or its intelligence assets. One of the 
     unfortunate effects in Guatemala of the CIA summary report is 
     that Colonel Alpirez is now being publicly vindicated of all 
     involvement. In addition, last month a Guatemalan appeals 
     court upheld a military court ruling that cleared Colonel 
     Garcia Catalan of any connection to Michael's murder. Despite 
     strong evidence that Garcia Catalan authorized Michael's 
     kidnapping and assassination or at least participated in the 
     cover-up, the appeals court held that since an earlier trial 
     had already resulted in convictions, there was no basis to 
     proceed with charged against Garcia Catalan.
       The results of my FOIA requests have been as discouraging 
     to me as the CIA summary report. I have received complete 
     denials, on a variety of grounds, from the DEA, Interpol, and 
     the Attorney General. The DEA has acknowledged that it has 
     documents on Colonel Alpirez, but that it still will not 
     release them because, for example, disclosure ``may 
     constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,'' 
     reveal the identity of a source, or relate to internal 
     practices or policies of the DEA. I have received nothing, 
     other than receipts for my requests, from the Department 
     of Defense, the State Department, and the National 
     Security Council. To date, the only documents I have 
     received from any agency are a transcript from the CIA of 
     William Studeman's statement at the open hearings held on 
     April 5th by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, and 
     copies of two cables from Interpol which explain nothing.
       I love Guatemala, but many terrible things happen there to 
     innocent people. I believe that terrible things will continue 
     to happen, and that there will never be real peace until the 
     guilty parties are held accountable for their acts. For the 
     sake of the people of Guatemala and the United States, as 
     well as for my family, I ask all of you here today to press 
     the Clinton administration for meaningful investigations, the 
     fullest disclosure possible, and the declassification of all 
     documents related to Michael's assassination.
       Although my once unshakeable faith in the U.S. Government 
     has been deeply challenged, I still want to believe that the 
     government will do the right thing. I can see no good reason 
     why my children and I should be prevented from knowing at 
     least what our government knows about the facts of my 
     husband's murder, and all those who played a part in ordering 
     his execution, carrying it out, or covering up the true 
     circumstances.
       Thank you for your interest and support.