NEWS RELEASE Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Nov. 25, 1997

EMBASSY VIGIL FOR FATHER CARNEY

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SUPPORT GROWS: IN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON, TWO CONGRESSMEN EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR VIGIL AND DEMANDS

THREE U.S. CITIZENS FROM CRISPAZ IN SAN SALVADOR VISIT, PARTICIPATE IN VIGIL

MATTHEW EISEN WAS RELEASED FROM OBSERVATION UNIT SATURDAY, NOV. 22; CONTINUES IN FAST

VIGIL CONTINUES IN FRONT OF U.S. EMBASSY

FAST ENTERS 28th DAY

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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In an important letter dated Nov. 20 to President Clinton, Congressmen James P. McGovern (D.-Mass.) and John Joseph Moakley (D.-Mass.) wrote:

"We are writing on an issue of grave and urgent concern regarding human rights in Honduras. As you are well aware, in 1993 Honduran Human Rights Commissioner Dr. Leo Valladares Lanza asked the United States government to support an investigation and report on the history of human rights abuses in Honduras by declassifying relevant documents. When the U.S. government refused to cooperate on the basis that Dr. Valldares' request was too broad, he narrowed the scope of the request to six specific cases and specific Honduran military officers and units.

"We very much appreciate your having pressed U.S. agencies to cooperate to the maximum extent possible in providing documents and information on these cases. Unfortunately, outside of the State Department, compliance has been very slow and very poor, and even those documents that have been released are heavily censored--inded, often entire pages are blacked out so as to be useless.

"One of the cases on which the Honduran Human Rights Commissioner requested documents and information is the 1983 murder of U.S. citizen and Jesuit priest, Father James Francis "Guadalupe" Carney. Currently, a non-violent vigil by Carney relatives and members of religious communities is taking place outside of the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to protest the fact that the U.S. government has failed to provide information that would clarify and help facilitate the prosecution of those who were involved in and responsible for ordering the murder of this U.S. priest. We sympathize with and support this call for justice in the Father Carney case.

"We call upon you, Mr. President, to reiterate forcefully your call for all U.S. agencies to declassify and release documents and information on the cases requested by Dr. Valladares. We ask that you act quickly and urgently, in particular, on documentation and information relevant to the 1983 murder of Father James Carney. And we demand that this information be fully released, and not censored in a manner as to make a farce and a mockery of the declassification process.

"Thank you for your immediate response to this urgent appeal.

Sincerely,

(signed)

John Joseph Moakley James P. McGovern

Member of Congress Member of Congress

cc: Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State

William Cohen, Secretary of Defense

George J. Tenet, Director, Central Intelligence Agency

Jeff Davidow, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Afffairs

Lt. General Patrick M. Hughs, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

Carney family members Sister Jean Brenner and Mr. John Patrick Carney

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MATTHEW EISEN RELEASED FROM OBSERVATION UNIT

Matthew Eisen was released from the hospital on Saturday, Nov. 22, after one day in observation. On the basis of laboratory tests and examination, Dr. Oscar Mejia reported that he found some ill effects of the long fast but nothing serious enough to necessitate ending the fast. He noted, however, that he will be more concerned if the fast continues much longer.

After hearing of the hospitalization of Eisen for observation, 3 U.S. citizens (representatives of Christians for Peace in El Salvador -- CRISPAZ) came to Tegucigalpa this past weekend (Nov. 22-23) to demonstrate the organization's support for the fast and vigil for Father James Carney.

Eisen, who has been working with CRISPAZ in El Salvador since January of this year in a youth project of ex-gang members, stated: "The presence of more North Americans, my friends and representatives of CRISPAZ--Yon Hui Bell, Jeanne Rikkers-DeBorst, and Maya Rikkers-DeBorst--demonstrates that the call to get the truth from the U.S. government is growing!"

On Sunday Eisen spoke to over 1,000 people at the Basilica Suyapa, where he received tremendous support. During the Mass Eisen stated: "Our demands are not high or inconceivable. We just want the truth!"

Father Joseph Mulligan, S.J., also continuing in the fast along with Eisen and John Patrick Carney and others, traveled to Tocoa, where Father Carney had worked during part of his 18 years in Honduras, to speak during the Sunday Masses.

Parishioners had organized an all-day vigil in memory of Father "Guadalupe." Thirty members of the parish fasted, prayed, and shared their memories of their beloved priest. Many also signed petitions addressed to the U.S. ambassador in Honduras, supporting the demands of the embassy vigil. (The petitions are being signed in various regions of Honduras and will be presented within the next few months.)

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EXPRESSIONS OF SOLIDARITY

Sisters of St. Agnes in the U.S. and Nicaragua are also joining in the fast for Father Carney.

The Ecumenical Committee of U.S. Church Personnel in Nicaragua expressed their support for their fellow member Joe Mulligan and for Matthew Eisen and noted: "The incredible connections of injustices in many countries and the results of many erroneous U.S. policies toward Latin America are coming to light with each new revelation....

"Some of us, like Sister Margarita Navarro, are fasting in

solidarity with you, your work, and the daily struggle of millions in the world who are forced to fast against their will.

"Others of us are preparing and advocating messages to our communities and churches and to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Attorney General Janet Reno about Padre Guadalupe and the many other disappeared in Honduras."

The vigilers also wish to express their gratitude to Nicaraguan Christians for the Poor, a network of Christian base communities of various regions of Nicaragua, for their statement of support sent from their recent assembly.

Others have expressed their support in various ways. A heartfelt thanks to all. Together, we are making progress toward our goal of truth and justice!

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL! Perhaps during the Thanksgiving weekend you may have some time to write to your Senators, Representative, the Secretary of State, or the US Attorney General in support of the demands we issued at the beginning of this vigil/fast. For those who are new to our email list, we repeat those basic demands here. Please contact the mass media also, expressing your desire for more coverage of the Father Carney case. Thank you.

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EMBASSY VIGIL FOR FATHER CARNEY

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Oct. 29, 1997

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 U.S. Attorney General, the Honduran Attorney General for Human Rights, and the Honduran Human Rights Commissioner.

5. We DEMAND that the U.S. government offer technical assistance to help the human rights 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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Comite de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH)

BERTHA OLIVA DE NATIVI

Coordinadora General

lorena@cofadeh.sdnhon.org.hn

Tele(fax): (504) 379800