NEWS RELEASE Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Dec. 3, 1997
EMBASSY VIGIL FOR FATHER CARNEY
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FATHER JOSEPH MULLIGAN, S.J., RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL DEC. 1; CONTINUES IN FAST
FATHER MULLIGAN HAD PRIVATE MEETING WITH PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS YESTERDAY, DEC.
2; PRESENTED LETTER WITH SUGGESTIONS
LARGE DEMONSTRATION WAS HELD IN FRONT OF U.S. EMBASSY ON DEC. 1
"The Lord demands an accounting for the blood that was shed; the Lord
hears the cry of the poor" (Psalm 9:12).
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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At 2 p.m. on Dec. 1, Father Joseph Mulligan, S.J., was released from an observation unit of a local clinic, where he had spent 24 hours. He and Matthew Eisen are now in the 36th day of their fast, along with others in various countries, including John Patrick Carney (brother of Father Carney).
Mulligan told reporters: "During this fast we have been living not on ordinary bread but on the word we hear in our conscience, in history, in the people, and in the scriptures. This word of life, along with the support and love of so many people here, in the U.S., and in other countries, nourishes us to continue this struggle for truth and justice in the case of Father James Carney and the other disappeared of Honduras."
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On Dec. 2 Father Joseph Mulligan, S.J., was received by President of Honduras Dr. Carlos Roberto Reina in the Presidential Palace. President Reina expressed his support for the efforts Mulligan and others are making to achieve truth and justice in the case of the disappeared U.S. priest, Father James Carney, and others.
The President stated that he knew Father Carney personally and admired his devotion to the cause of justice.
President Reina assured Father Mulligan that the incoming administration of newly elected president Carlos Flores will continue to support the efforts of the Honduran Commissioner for the Protection of Human Rights and of the Special Human Rights Prosecutor to investigate the case of Father Carney and other disappeared persons.
Mulligan presented to the President some of the documents which form the basis of the vigil/fast for Father Carney in front of the U.S. embassy: the participants' Oct. 29 letter to President Clinton, their set of demands, and samples of the heavily excised CIA and U.S. Army documents released to the Honduran government during this year.
The President acknowledged that such documents do not help his government's investigations, something which he had stated previously in Washington.
In a letter to the President, Mulligan suggested several ways in which the President could help to contribute to justice in the case of Father Carney and others. The text of this letter follows:
Centro Loyola
Tegucigalpa
tel/fax: 325467
Dec. 2, 1997
Dr. Carlos Roberto Reina
President of the Republic of Honduras
Dear Dr. Reina,
I am very grateful to you for having granted me this interview, and I
congratulate you for all the work you have done in support of human rights and
the rule of law.
We appreciate the fact that, during our time here in Honduras, we have
been able to exercise our right to free expression, which is a characteristic
of democracy.
I also wish to thank you once again for the meeting you granted us in
March of 1996, when I was accompanied by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit,
Ms. Bertha Oliva of COFADEH, and some of my Jesuit confreres. On that occasion
you indicated that you considered it possible that the case of Father James
"Guadalupe" Carney, who disappeared in Honduras in 1983, could be solved.
Unfortunately, we are not aware of any significant advance in the
investigation of this case on the part of agencies of your administration.
At the same time we are also very disappointed by the U.S. government's
totally inadequate response to the Honduran government's official request for
documents which could shed light on the case of Father Carney and other
victims of human rights violations.
As you know very well, the CIA and Department of Defense documents
released in March and August of this year are over 50% blacked out and thus
useless in the clarification of these cases.
Thus on October 29 I along with Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, John Patrick
Carney (brother of Father Carney), Sister Jean Brenner (cousin of Father
Carney) and Matthew Eisen began a vigil and fast for Father Carney in front of
the U.S. embassy here. We want a serious response from the Clinton
administration to the Honduran government's official request. Today we are in
the 35th day of our liquids-only fast. Many Hondurans and people of other
countries have expressed their solidarity in this struggle.
I wish to take this opportunity to share with you the documents which
form the basis of our request to the U.S. government: our Oct. 29 letter to
President Clinton, our demands, and copies of some sample pages of the
blacked-out documents.
I would also like to present to you some samples of the support
statements which we have received in support of this cause: a letter from
Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a letter from Senator Carl Levin, a
letter from Members of Congress James P. McGovern and John Joseph Moakley, and
a letter from former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Recognizing your good will and your personal desire to help to find the
remains of Father Carney and to promote the investigation and solution of this
case, I would like to propose the following suggestions for your
consideration:
I. That you as President write a letter to President Bill Clinton expressing your judgment that the documents declassified and released to this date, because they are so heavily excised and erased, do not help the Honduran government in its search for truth and justice in the case of Father Carney and other cases.
In the letter you could support two of the demands which we issued along
with our letter of Oct. 29 to President Clinton: (1)that the President
himself, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Attorney General Janet Reno,
and the Intelligence Committees of the U.S. Senate and House personally
scrutinize the original versions of the expurgated documents to determine
whether the erasures are covering up any evidence of criminal activity on the
part of U.S. or Honduran persons. And (2) that you as President of Honduras
ask the U.S. government to offer whatever technical assistance may be
necessary to find the remains of Father Carney.
II. That you as Chief of the Honduran Armed Forces order the Armed Forces to
hand over to you all existing documentation concerning the case of Father
Carney, and also that you provide to the Jesuits of Honduras or to the
National Commissioner for the Protection of Human Rights or to the Special
Human Rights Prosecutor a list of all the military personnel who took part in
Operation Patuca, officers as well as soldiers, members of the Armed Forces as
well as intelligence agents.
III. That you urge all Hondurans who may have information about where Father
Carney's remains may be found or who may have information about what happened
to him and about those who were directly or indirectly responsible to make
contact with the National Commissioner for the Protection of Human Rights or
with the Special Human Rights Prosecutor or with the Jesuits of Honduras, who
have made this request publicly and have given this telephone number: 664227.
I thank you once again, Mr. President, for your efforts for justice and against impunity, and for your kindness in granting me this meeting. Your active help at this moment could contribute very much to advance the investigation and solution of this case and of others in Honduras.
Respectfully,
Father Joseph E. Mulligan, S.J.
Permanent address: Colegio Centro America
Apdo 2419
Managua, Nicaragua
telephone: (505) 278-6965
e-mail: guvols@nicarao.org.ni
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On Dec. 1 a demonstration involving more than 150 Hondurans was held in front of the U.S. embassy, again showing the broad support for the vigil for Father Carney.
This Friday, Dec. 5, the vigilers will take part in the first-Friday
demonstration of the Relatives of the Detained- Disappeared (COFADEH) in front
of the National Congress from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The entire group will then
move to the U.S. embassy for a demonstration from 12 to 2.
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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
EPICA
1470 Irving St., NW
Washington, DC 20010
Tel: 202/332-0292
Fax: 202/332-1184
Email: epica@igc.apc.org
Web: www.igc.apc.org/epica