[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 127 (Monday, September 27, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1971-E1972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      EXTRADITE PINOCHET TO SPAIN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CRIMES IN CHILE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 27, 1999

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, today, Monday, September 27, 1999, almost 
a year after his arrest in Britain for human rights abuses during his 
17-year rule in Chile, an extradition hearing for former Chilean 
dictator General Augusto Pinochet has begun. Over the next five days, 
Magistrate Ronald Bartle of the Magistrates' Court will consider 
evidence for and against the extradition request for General Pinochet 
to face charges in Spain.
  On Sunday, September 26, family, friends, and colleagues of two 
victims of Pinochet's murderous regime were remembered here in 
Washington, DC. Former Chilean Ambassador and Cabinet Minister Orlando 
Letelier and United States citizen Ronni Karpen Moffitt were 
assassinated on September 21, 1976, by Chilean agents on the streets of 
Washington when Letelier's car exploded from a car bomb. Should Spain's 
request to extradite Pinochet to face charges of torture and murder be 
granted, then I hope the Letelier and Moffitt murders might be included 
in that trial, or that the United States government would also request 
extradition to try Pinochet in the United States for these two murders 
and the murders of other Americans in Chile.
  I call upon the United States government to release all documents 
regarding human rights violations and the actions of the Chilean 
military, police, intelligence, and security agencies during the 
Pinochet regime, including documents regarding the role of United 
States agencies prior to and during the 1973 coup and during the 17-
year rule of General Pinochet. I submit for the Record, my statement at 
Sunday's memorial event at Sheridan Circle commemorating the 23rd 
anniversary of the murders of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt.

         In Memory of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt

       Twenty-three years ago, international terrorism exploded on 
     the streets of our nation's capital with the brutal 
     assassination of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt, and it 
     changed our world forever.
       As my former boss, mentor and dearest friend Senator George 
     McGovern said from the pulpit at the funeral for Orlando and 
     Ronni: ``If Orlando Letelier must die at the age of forty-
     four and dear Ronni Moffitt must die at the age of twenty-
     five because of the unbridled power of madmen, then there is 
     no security for any of us.''
       I won't try to speak as to how the world changed for the 
     Letelier, Moffitt and Karpen families, or for the friends and 
     colleagues of Orlando and Ronni. Their personal grief and 
     journeys during the past two decades are private. But their 
     public lives and advocacy have been an inspiration to all of 
     us, including myself.
       They have been tenacious in their search for the whole 
     truth about how this heinous act took place and who was 
     responsible.
       They have lent their support and personal resources to the 
     search for truth about other human rights crimes carried out 
     by the Pinochet regime in Chile.
       And they have enshrined the memories of Orlando Letelier 
     and Ronni Moffitt by annually recognizing individuals and 
     groups in the United States and throughout the world who 
     continue the struggle for basic human rights, human dignity 
     and social justice.
       We are now at a historic moment in the search for truth and 
     justice for the people of Chile. The effort to hold General 
     Augusto Pinochet accountable for the crimes against humanity 
     committee by his government and by his orders is important 
     for the people of Chile and for those everywhere who suffer 
     under repression. I support and salute the individuals, 
     lawyers and jurists in Chile, Spain and the United Kingdom 
     whose efforts have brought about the arrest, and hopefully 
     the extradition, of General Pinochet. Human rights law and 
     advocacy have all been strengthened by their singular 
     dedication.
       At this moment in history, when Chileans are attempting to 
     confront and address their own past and seek justice, it is 
     time--indeed it is past time--for the United States to open 
     all its files on Chile. In particular, the CIA must stop 
     blocking the declassification of Chile files and support the 
     President's effort to release all documents.
       It has been more than a quarter century since the violent 
     military coup overthrew

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     the democratically elected government of Chile. Open the 
     files, release the documents, let the light finally shine on 
     this dark and shameful period. It will set us all free.

     

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