[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 16, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1277-E1279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHT 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.

     

                          ____________________