[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 28, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1668]]
                    JUDICIAL CORRUPTION IN ARGENTINA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 27, 1999

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following remarks 
to the attention of my colleagues. These remarks were delivered on July 
22nd, at a congressional human rights caucus members' briefing on 
corrupt practices in Argentina's judicial system. While Argentina has 
made some strides toward democratization, the information shared with 
members at this briefing suggests that much work still remains to be 
done with their judicial system.

  Statement of Ms. Virginia Golan, Director of Human Affairs, Buenos 
                  Aires Yoga School Foundation (BAYS)

       Honorable Members of Congress, staff members, concerned 
     activists, friends, ladies and gentlemen, thank you with all 
     my heart for the opportunity to share with you our story. It 
     is a sad one . . . but with your help, I hope that there may 
     still be a happy ending for us and for democracy in 
     Argentina.
       My name is Virginia Golan. I am 28 years old. I am from 
     Argentina. I am a member of a small institute and school of 
     philosophy, the Buenos Aires Yoga School (BAYS). I should be 
     in Buenos Aires today studying, but I can't because of 
     government oppression. I should be with my friends, but I'm 
     not because they are in hiding. Today, I spend as much time 
     as I am able in the United States because I am afraid to go 
     home. In fact, I haven't spent very much time at home since I 
     was badly beaten four years ago by agents of the Argentine 
     judiciary. The first time, late one evening when leaving a 
     meeting of my school, I was attacked. They threw me against a 
     wall, told me not to look back, and threatened to kill me if 
     I did not stop my lobbying efforts in the BAYS case. The next 
     time, in broad daylight, after I left the Argentine 
     Legislature, a strange car pulled next to me. They beat me 
     while shouting, ``Stop causing trouble for the judges, you 
     whore, or we'll kill you.'' The attackers concentrated on 
     hitting my face, leaving me with black eyes and grotesque 
     bruising of my face. Fearing for my safety, soon after I left 
     my home and my friends to bring our story to America. And 
     this is our story.
       Six years ago, a member of BAYS, Maria Valeria Llamas, was 
     subjected to rape, sexual abuse and psychological torture by 
     her stepfather, Sommariva, he countersued by accusing our 
     school of being a cult that brainwashed and corrupted his 24 
     year-old stepdaughter.
       The judicial nightmare that ensued has consumed the last 
     six years of my life and the lives of the 300 families of 
     BAYS. It is about abuse of power. It is about greed and 
     corruption. It is about fear, and violence and hate. It is 
     about all those things that the Argentine government would 
     rather were never mentioned. It is about a small struggle for 
     freedom that has come to symbolize the greater struggle for 
     democracy and justice throughout my country. And today, in 
     these chambers, it is becoming a story of hope.
       Since that fateful day, the many tentacles of the Argentine 
     Judiciary have harassed the members of our school, especially 
     the women. Our homes have been illegally searched, our 
     property illegally confiscated, our phones illegally tapped, 
     careers ruined and our reputations stained. Even our youngest 
     members have been subjected to the terror that is Argentine 
     justice. Such as minor, Celeste Fain (whose brave mother is 
     here today) a young Jewish girl, who was physically violated 
     and raped by a member of the Argentine judiciary, the first 
     criminal trial judge handling our criminal prosecution, Judge 
     Mariano Berges. Other BAYS members have been detained, 
     separated from their families and forced to submit to 
     psychiatric and psychological tests. While in judicial 
     detention, Dr. Maria Eugenia Rossi and Carmen Graciela 
     Alarcon, two of our more prominent members, were vaginally 
     and anally violated, and subjected to inhumane conditions 
     while in the court's jail for up to 16 days.
       Most recently, the Argentine judiciary appointed a third 
     criminal trial judge to investigate the BAYS case, a 
     procedural duplication that is highly unusual even under 
     Argentina's bizarre judicial system, as admitted by Argentine 
     Supreme Court Justices Moline O'Connor and Adolfo Roberto 
     Vazquez. The third criminal trial judge, Corvalan de la 
     Colina, has escalated the terror, authorizing new criminal 
     cases to be filed, based on the same meritless facts. Such is 
     the situation with my 27 year-old friend, Carla Paparella. 
     Her parents have mistreated her all her life. As any sane 
     person would do, she left that life of abuse as soon as she 
     was of age. Now her parents continue harassing her by 
     accusing BAYS of forcing her into involtunary servitude. 
     Carla went to see Judge Corvalan to show what a farce this 
     is, but he would not meet her. She filed a document, which I 
     submit as evidence for the record, stating that she is of 
     sound mind and that her parents are lying. She is here with 
     us today. To make matters worse, Maria Valeria Llamas' mother 
     launched a new case based on the same unproven accusations 
     that Maria's stepfather Sommariva initiated 6 years earlier.
       The Argentine judiciary is now using a new, dangerous 
     strategy to attack BAYS by declaring that some women are 
     mentally incompetent, thereby allowing their parents to sue 
     BAYS on their behalf and against their will. Criminal Trial 
     Judge Corvalan has violated Argentine law by declaring, 
     without legal authority nor professional psychological 
     assessments, that BAYS members Maria Valeria Llamas and Maria 
     Veronica Cane are mentally incapable. The court has stripped 
     these two young women of their civil rights, while 
     terrorizing them with the ever present concern that they can 
     be picked up anytime to be locked away in primitive mental 
     institutions specializing in electroshock therapy. They live 
     in constant fear, and the message to the rest of us at BAYS 
     is that we can be next.
       The truth is that the official psychological examination 
     and test done on Carla Papparella, Maria Veronica Cane and 
     Maria Valeria Llamas, as well as many others in BAYS who were 
     tested, document they are all sound, stable, normal people. I 
     submit for the record the forensic reports on these BAYS 
     members. I further submit an affidavit by Dr. David Preven, a 
     foremost expert on cults whose practice is in New York. Dr. 
     Preven extensively investigated into the allegation that BAYS 
     is a cult. Dr. Preven's findings directly refute this lie. 
     The Argentine judiciary, however, does not want to deal with 
     reality.
       In March 1995, the Argentine Court of Appeals instructed 
     the Lower Court criminal trial judge to close the BAYS 
     investigation in 45 days and resolve the case. Incredibly, 
     the judicial decree was ignored and the investigation 
     continues today, a blatant violation of the Argentine Penal 
     Code. The flaunting of Appellate Court decisions by 
     Argentina's criminal trial judges dangerously undermines the 
     foundation of rule of law in Argentina. It is the respect for 
     and enforcement of rule of law that distinguished true 
     democracies from those that pretend to be.
       All these years, one thread of evidence of corruption, 
     involuntary servitude or brainwashing has been produced in a 
     court of law. But the Argentine judiciary refuses to close 
     the case and all BAYS members are stigmatized by a cloud of 
     suspicion. We are treated as corrupters and corrupt people. 
     We are condemned as mentally incompetent or called 
     prostitutes. We have no possibility of clearing our 
     reputation. We are stripped of our livelihoods, our sense of 
     personal safety and well being, and our very dignity as 
     individuals.
       Now, some will tell you that this is simply the way of 
     Argentina, which is cursed with an inefficient and belabored 
     judicial system. I do not believe this. Evidence how swiftly 
     our judiciary issues orders of detention, puts people in 
     jail, authorizes searches and taps telephones. Witness how 
     quickly they strip us of our rights and destroy lives. These 
     are not the actions of a moribund institution. On the 
     contrary, the Argentine judiciary can be a brutally efficient 
     and destructive body. It needs direction and reform. It is 
     crying out for help. We are asking for your help in steering 
     our institutions of justice down a better brighter path.
       Some will tell you that this is not America's concern. I am 
     here to say that it does concern you. Not only are several 
     members American, but as long as the people of America sell 
     weapons to my government, sign contracts and extend debt 
     service and support American business to make profits there, 
     and encourage U.S. citizens to travel and spend money there--
     you are investing in Argentina's rule of law. The same rule 
     of law that can put me in jail on a whim, can steal and turn 
     on you. The same judge who has stripped me of my rights for a 
     dollar, will rob you blind through a miscarriage of justice. 
     The same soldier who beats me today, may kill me tomorrow 
     with an American gun. Today, more than ever, I beg that you 
     understand this should be of concern to you and all 
     Americans. Although we were over 1,000 strong in membership, 
     today, after 6 years of constant judicial persecution and 
     violation of our human rights, only 300 remain. The Directors 
     and students of BAYS have seen their honor and their dignity 
     publicly soiled through denigrating accusations of crimes. 
     After 6 years, we know the baseless charges will never be 
     proven in a court of law, as they are blatant lies.
       Ladies and gentlemen, every evening when we return to our 
     homes, we are afraid to find them ransacked. We are scared to 
     find our names and reputations further denigrated with 
     scurrilous attacks in the yellow press. We are falling deeper 
     and deeper into the despair of an unending hell. We are sick. 
     We are tired. And I'm sorry to say that we are losing. We 
     fear, that this is a never-ending prosecution, haunting us 
     day after day, year after year--it seems forever. The specter 
     of jail and mental institutions threatens our lives daily, 
     while we continue postponing our dreams. I am very afraid 
     because I do not know how much longer we will have the 
     strength to continue this fight against oppression--a fight 
     for our very survival, a fight for freedom for the Argentine 
     people. I wonder, how long can we and must we endure? We beg 
     of your great Nation, America, that you help us make our 
     dreams of a democratic Argentina come true some day. I cannot 
     thank you more deeply from my heart for your help.



     

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