NEWS RELEASE Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Dec. 1, 1997

FATHER JOSEPH MULLIGAN, SJ, REMAINS IN HOSPITAL UNDER OBSERVATION ON 34TH DAY OF FAST

FASTERS SEND MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT-ELECT CARLOS FLORES

JENNIFER HARBURY PARTICIPATES IN VIGIL, EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY

CATHOLIC BISHOP IN BRAZIL AND LUTHERAN PASTOR IN ARGENTINA EXPRESS SUPPORT

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

Father Joseph Mulligan, SJ, hospitalized yesterday for observation, remains in hospital on 34th day of fast. A medical report is expected today at 11:30 a.m.

Mulligan and Matthew Eisen, also in his 34th day of the fast for Father Carney, expressed their desire to send the following message, taken from an Open Letter by Amnesty International to the presidential candidates in Honduras, to president-elect Carlos Flores: "Amnesty International urges you to support measures which would bring to justice all those involved in past violations of human rights in order to put an end to impunity and in order to prevent that situation from repeating itself in the future. This organization also asks you to support the work of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights of the Public Ministry, whose efforts in these cases have been very important in attacking impunity."

Attorney Jennifer Harbury, widow of Guatemalan Mayan resistance leader Efrain Bamaca Velasquez, took part with Mulligan and Eisen and over 100 others in a National Forum on Forced Disappearances and Impunity sponsored by the Committee of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) on Nov. 28 in the Hotel Maya. On Nov. 29 Ms. Harbury participated in the Vigil for Father Carney in front of the US embassy and delivered this message of solidarity:

"I strongly support the efforts of Father Mulligan, Matthew Eisen, the family of Father James (Guadalupe) Carney, and many others to obtain the full and immediate release of all U.S. records concerning his fate. The time has come for the truth to be known, for this honorable priest to be buried with dignity, and for his family and friends to be allowed to heal, at long last.

"Perhaps most importantly the time has come for justice. I do not speak of revenge or punishment, but of justice in its pure sense: a justice that will sweep aside the official impunity that has so long shielded and promoted human rights abuses in this region. It is only justice of this nature that can protect the future generations of Central America.

"This justice must also be complete and include not only those who tortured and murdered Father Carney, but those who might have saved his life, those who could have intervened, those who at the very least could have stepped forward and told the truth and spared family and friends so many years of anguish.

"Yes, I am speaking of the CIA and other branches of the U.S. government. Yes, they know the truth and have always known it. Yes, they must share it now. "Sadly, I do not speak from conjecture, but from my own direct experience with my husband's `disappearance' in Guatemala. Yes, the U.S. government knew where he was and what had become of him from the first week of his capture. Did they share this with me or the U.S. Congress? No. Could a life have been saved? Perhaps. I must take this reality to my grave. So must they.

"I now call on the U.S. government to learn from its mistakes, to take a long, close look at its policies in the face of heinous human rights crimes. Let us take a long look, then open all the human rights files on both Guatemala and Honduras. It is the finest contribution we could make toward true peace in this region."

Jennifer Harbury

On Nov. 25 the Embassy Vigil for Father Carney received this message from Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga of Brazil: "We continue in deep communion with the Vigil for Truth and Justice in the face of lies and domination, strengthened by the testimony of our peoples. We are united particularly with Matthew Eisen, Joseph Mulligan, Patrick Carney [brother of Father Carney], and Sister Frances Brenner and Irene Tretow [cousins of Father Carney] in commemorating our Father Guadalupe, who gave the greatest proof of his love by giving his life for the poor of Honduras and of all of our America."

In the Lord Jesus, a very fraternal embrace,

Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga and the whole church

of Sao Felix do Araguaia, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

And from Daniel Calero of the Lutheran Church in Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina: "I want to tell you that we are praying for you in our ecumenical group in Bariloche, Argentina. At Christmas time, as part of our united activities, some pastors and lay persons will fast for 24 hours for all those who are going hungry at Christmas time in our country. Yours is another struggle but it is the same: the struggle for human dignity from the perspective of the Kingdom of God."

A fraternal embrace to all the fasters,

Daniel Calero, Lutheran Church

Mulligan and Eisen express their gratitude for these and so many other expressions of solidarity from many countries and wish to send their own message to the relatives and friends of the four North American church women brutally slain in El Salvador on Dec. 2, 1980: "The testimony of Ita, Jean, Dorothy, and Maura their lives of service to the poor and oppressed and their courage in facing the risks to their lives, culminating in their martyrdom has inspired and strengthened us and millions of others throughout the world who have been touched by their love, faith, and hope.

"They are with us in this struggle for truth and justice in the case of Father James Guadalupe Carney, another U.S. citizen who identified with and struggled with the people of Central America and gave his life for the poor and for justice."

MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION SCHEDULED THIS MORNING, 9 TO 11, IN FRONT OF U.S. EMBASSY IN TEGUCIGALPA.

END