NEWS RELEASE Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Nov. 12, 1997

EMBASSY VIGIL FOR FATHER CARNEY

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VIGIL MOVES TO U.S. MILITARY INSTALLATION AT PALMEROLA

FOUR VIGILERS INTEND TO STAY ON BASE IN NON-VIOLENT VIGIL TO

AWAIT A SERIOUS RESPONSE

BISHOP, PRIEST, RELATIVES, FRIENDS ENTER 15th DAY OF FAST

For more information, contact EPICA in Washington, DC, at: (202) 332-0292 or COFADEH in Tegucigalpa--country code 504, then 379800.

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Today four U.S. citizens entered the U.S. military installation at Palmerola, Honduras, to present a letter addressed to Secretary of Defense William Cohen and a set of demands concerning what they consider the "insultingly inadequate and unhelpful" declassification of U.S. government documents concerning Father James (Guadalupe) Carney and other disappeared persons in Honduras. Father Carney "disappeared" in Honduras in 1983.

Samples of the heavily excised pages were included with the letter and demands and are readily available from EPICA or COFADEH.

The vigilers--Brother Camillus Dufresne, F.S.C., Mr. Matthew Eisen, Jesuit Father Joseph E. Mulligan, and Sister Rita Owczarek, MM--announced that they will remain on the base "in a peaceful, non-violent vigil" until they receive a "serious response" from the U.S. government to their demands (provided with this news release).

"With regard to the CIA documents on Father James Carney and the Defense Department documents released to the Honduran government on March 4, 1997, and with regard to the CIA documents released on August 29, we DEMAND that the U.S. government explain to us, page by page, why paragraphs and indeed entire pages are blacked out," the group stated. "National security or personal impunity? Protection of informers or cover-up of those involved in the disappearance of Father Carney?"

The documents were released to the Honduran government in response to an official request by Dr. Leo Valladares, the human- rights commissioner.

Dr. Valladares, in a congressional staff briefing in Washington on May 7, stated: "The response that I have received to date has been disappointing. I have not received hardly any useful information. The majority of the documents which they have given me are blacked out. It is important that this declassification effort continue."

The group also intends to share their letter to the Secretary of Defense with the Senate and House Armed Services Committees.

NEWS CONFERENCE TOMORROW, NOV. 13, AT 11 A.M. AT COFADEH IN TEGUCIGALPA.

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To Friends Concerned about Fr. Carney and the other Disappeared Persons in Honduras:

We would ask you to do the following:

1. Call President Clinton--(202) 456-1111--and your U.S. Senators and Representative--Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121--to ask that they take our demands seriously;

2. Organize a vigil in front of your nearest Federal Building (or U.S. embassy in other countries) in solidarity with our Vigil for Father Carney; adopt our demands as your own and give voice to them to the public and media.

3. Sample support statement: "We support the demands made by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and others at the U.S. embassy in Honduras concerning the case of Father James Carney, a U.S. citizen who disappeared in that country in 1983. The U.S. government must respond more adequately to the official request by the Honduran government for documents regarding the case of Fr. Carney and other disappeared persons.

"In addition, the U.S. should offer whatever technical assistance may be necessary in order to find the remains of Fr. Carney."

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Tegucigalpa, Honduras Nov. 12, 1997

Mr. William Cohen Secretary of Defense Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Cohen:

President Clinton has ordered the declassification and release of U.S. government documents concerning violations of human rights in Honduras, including documents on U.S. citizen Father James Carney who disappeared in Honduras in 1983.

However, we are outraged that the CIA and Defense Department have not adequately complied with President Clinton's order and have made a mockery of any intention to cooperate with the Honduran system of justice.

We will remain indefinitely in the U.S. military installation in Palmerola, Honduras, in a peaceful vigil, awaiting a serious response from the U.S. government to our demands (attached), which are the same demands Sister Jean Brenner, John Patrick Carney, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, and Father Joseph Mulligan, S.J., sent to President Clinton from the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa on Oct. 29.

On March 4 the CIA and Defense Department released declassified (and heavily expurgated) documents concerning Father James Carney. In summarizing its 38 documents, the CIA noted: "The circumstances surrounding the death of Father James Carney, the Jesuit priest who disappeared in 1983 while participating in a leftist incursion from Nicaragua, remain a mystery. The case is of continuing interest because Father Carney was a U.S. citizen and because of allegations that the U.S. military and/or the CIA were involved in his death. The CIA established the Honduras Working Group to undertake a thorough review of the Agency's documents pertinent to the Carney case."

Father Carney had worked in Honduras for eighteen years. His defense of human rights and his support of the farmers' organizing efforts resulted in his deportation in 1979.

After working as a pastor in Nicaragua, he returned to Honduras in 1983 as a chaplain to an armed revolutionary column; the group was captured by the Honduran army, and Father Carney "was disappeared." Although officials presented his chalice and >stole to his relatives, they never explained the circumstances of his death, suggesting only that he probably starved to death in the mountains. In 1987 a former officer of the Honduran army stated that he had heard from other soldiers that Carney had been thrown to his death from a helicopter.

His body has not been found, and the Honduran military officers responsible for his death have not been identified. Whether any U.S. agents or officials were involved in his disappearance remains an open question.

The most striking aspect of the CIA and Pentagon documents is the extraordinary amount of material which is blacked out-- proportionately more than in the larger amount of State Department documents previously released. The most glaring example is a Defense Department page entitled "Honduran Armed Forces--Human Rights and Corruption." After this title, the entire page is black.

Also among the Defense documents is a "biographic sketch" of Major General Gustavo Adolfo Alvarez Martinez dated December 1983. Two of the 3 and 1/2 pages are over 50% blacked out. Alvarez, trained in the Argentine military academy and in U.S. army courses, was generally considered to be responsible as chief of the Honduran Armed Forces for innumerable violations of human rights.

On August 29 the CIA released over 300 pages of previously classified documents concerning Father Carney, four other disappeared persons, and one survivor of torture. Like the documents released in March, these pages show that extraordinary amounts of material have been excised.

This denial of material by the CIA and Defense Department borders on obstruction of justice and shows a complete lack of respect for the Honduran authorities who requested the documents.

In addition to the demands which were made on Oct. 29 and which are attached to this letter, we would ask you to give special consideration to the following points which were included in an Oct. 30 letter from the embassy vigilers to President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Attorney General Janet Reno.

Among the CIA documents released on August 29 is a 1988 CIA report on its investigation of a June 5, 1988 New York Times article by James LeMoyne entitled "Testifying to Torture." The CIA report noted: "In the New York Times article, Sgt. Caballero said he had interrogated an American priest. This reference probably to Father James Francis Carney..." (Florencio Caballero was a deserter from the Honduran army's Battalion 3-16; he lived in political exile in Toronto until his recent death.)

There is no indication in its report that the CIA investigated this important statement by Caballero. It is curious that the CIA reports the statement and then gives no follow-up comments; perhaps they are in the excised sections. We demand to know whether the Defense Department or any other branch of the U.S. government has investigated the statement by Caballero.

Also, while the CIA mentions "Mr. Mike" in relation to another case, there is no indication that the CIA investigated Caballero's statement to Carney's relatives [BBC-TV documentary Nov. 22, 1987 as reported in The Nation Jan. 23, 1988] that "Mr. Mike" (an American agent) was present at a meeting where Gen. Alvarez said, "when you capture Guadalupe [Father Carney], kill him after interrogation."

"Mr. Mike" has been linked to both the disappearance of Father Carney and the torture of a political prisoner. Who is he? Was he ever or is he still a member of the U.S. Armed Forces? Has he been questioned by U.S. authorities in regard to the Carney case?

Moreover, we DEMAND that the U.S. government identify three U.S. citizens who are alleged to have been involved in the disappearance of Father Carney: Col. West Blank, Maj. Mark Kelvi, and "Mr. Mike." In a January 3, 1985 letter to a relative of Father Carney, the CIA public affairs director stated: "`Col. West Blank' and `Maj. Mark Kelvi' were never employed by this Agency in any capacity." Were they ever members of the U.S. Armed Forces or employed by any other agency or branch of the U.S. government? Were they ever stationed in Honduras?

One additional question: Precisely when did the presence of Father Carney in the guerrilla group become known to the U.S. military personnel or others in the U.S. embassy?

The Defense Department must be more cooperative in the Carney investigation and must still release documents requested by the Honduran government in relation to General Gustavo Alvarez and Battalion 3-16.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Brother Camillus Dufresne, F.S.C.

Mr. Matthew Eisen

Father Joseph E. Mulligan, S.J.

Apdo. 2419 Managua, Nicaragua email: guvols@nicarao.org.ni

Sister Rita Owczarek, MM

ATTACHED: DEMANDS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

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EMBASSY VIGIL FOR FATHER CARNEY

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

DEMANDS

1. With regard to the CIA documents on Father James Carney and the Defense Department documents released to the Honduran government on March 4, 1997, and with regard to the CIA documents released on August 29, we DEMAND that the U.S. government explain to us, page by page, why paragraphs and indeed entire pages are blacked out. National security or personal impunity? Protection of informers or cover-up of those involved in the disappearance of Father Carney?

2. We DEMAND that the unexpurgated originals of these documents be reviewed by President Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the appropriate Senate and House committees, and a representative group of the 51 members of Congress who signed a letter on May 13 to President Clinton concerning declassification of documents on Honduras; these officials should determine whether there is justification for covering up so much of this material. (The congressional letter urged President Clinton to instruct the relevant agencies to expedite the declassification and release the documents requested by Honduran Human Rights Commissioner Dr. Leo Valladares.)

3. We DEMAND that the unexpurgated originals be reviewed by the U.S. Attorney General, the Honduran Attorney General for Human Rights, and the Honduran Human Rights Commissioner to determine whether the material may help to find Father Carney's remains and whether it may help to identify U.S. and Honduran agents or officials (civilian or military) who may have been responsible for Father Carney's disappearance.

4. In a June 13, 1997 letter to members of Congress, President Clinton stated that the CIA inspector general's report on CIA activities in Honduras "will be shared with the appropriate committees of Congress."

We DEMAND that this report be made public in its entirety and that the documents on which it is based be shared with the

Rights, and the Honduran Human Rights Commissioner.

5. We DEMAND that the U.S. government offer technical assistance to help the human righs officials of the Honduran government find the remains of Father Carney and identify those responsible for his disappearance. In a January 3, 1985 letter to a relative of Father Carney, the CIA public affairs director stated: "the Agency cannot be helpful because it was in no way involved in Father Carney's disappearance." The CIA's statement is both illogical and insufficient.

If Honduran and U.S. authorities marshall their forces to carry out a serious investigation and an all-out search, Father Carney's remains should be found and identified within a relatively short time.

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What do we want?

a. to find the remains of Father Carney in order to give him a Christian burial in Honduras, his beloved country;

b. to find out exactly what happened to him;

c. to identify those guilty of his disappearance and of the cover-up of the disappearance, whether Hondurans or U.S. citizens, whether civilians or military;

d. to charge those responsible for the crime and to bring them to trial in Honduras and/or in the U.S.

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EPICA 1470 Irving St., NW Washington, DC 20010 Tel: 202/332-0292 Fax: 202/332-1184 email: epica@igc.org Web: www.igc.apc.org/epica