NEWS RELEASE Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Oct. 31, 1997
EMBASSY VIGIL FOR FATHER CARNEY
AMBASSADOR BREAKS PROMISE
EMBASSY VIGILERS EXPELLED BY MARINES
FAST AND VIGIL CONTINUE TO AWAIT A SERIOUS RESPONSE
For more information, contact COFADEH in Tegucigalpa (379800) or EPICA in Washington,
DC--(202) 332-0292. Come to the news conference at the entrance of the U.S. embassy in
Tegucigalpa Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
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On Oct. 30 at 10 a.m., Sister Jean Brenner, John Patrick Carney, and Father Joseph Mulligan,
S.J., entered the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa to continue their discussions with embassy
personnel and their communications with the State Department, awaiting "a serious response"
from the U.S. government to their demands concerning the case of Father James (Guadalupe)
Carney.
The night before, the three had agreed to leave the embassy after the Ambassador assured them
that they could return on Oct. 30. However, when they returned, they were told by security
officers that, according to the ambassador's orders, only Mr. Carney could enter. Considering
this a violation of the Ambassador's promise, the group decided to stay in the embassy entrance
to continue their vigil.
When they were ordered to leave the embassy at 5:30 p.m., Mr. Carney chose to comply since he
had been told that in that way he could return to the embassy on Oct. 31. Sister Jean Brenner and
Father Joseph Mulligan decided to maintain their vigil in the embassy; each was picked up by
U.S. Marines and carried out of the building, where they remained on the sidewalk for one hour.
During the day Matthew Eisen of Cincinnati and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary bishop of
Detroit, continued as spokespersons, and the five vigilers still maintain their fast.
"Unfortunately, our government has a history of broken promises, especially in its dealings with the Indian population," one of the group said. "In our work on the Fr. Carney case, we have been given a series of empty promises. We hope that the Clinton administration will be different."
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WHY CONTINUE SEARCH FOR FATHER CARNEY?
Why is it important, in 1997, to continue to search for the truth in this case?
1) There is an intrinsic necessity to bring this matter to a conclusion, to find Father Carney's remains, to discover the truth, and to hold guilty persons accountable to justice. Impunity cannot be condoned or forgotten.
After half a century, Jews have not abandoned their search for and prosecution of Nazi
perpetrators of genocide; in Argentina the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and in Honduras the
Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared, are firm in their struggle to learn how their loved
ones disappeared; in El Salvador a United Nations Truth Commission took testimony about
atrocities committed during the 1980s and named guilty officials; in Guatemala the Catholic
Church and a truth commission are conducting a similar process; in France a Vichy government
official is on trial for collaborating with the Nazis in genocide; and in Spain an Argentine
official is on trial in relation to the killing of hundreds of Spaniards in Argentina.
2) The discovery of the truth and the pursuit of justice has not only a historic importance in Honduras but also is very relevant for the present and future: the development of democracy, with true civilian authority, is still in its infancy in Honduras.
Thirteen military officials have been fugitives from justice for over a year, defying court orders to present themselves for questioning in cases of disappeared persons and other victims of human-rights violations. Only one has been apprehended.
The material presented by the CIA and the Pentagon to the Honduran government shows
disrespect for and makes a mockery of the latter's efforts to strengthen its democratic
institutions.
3) The top priority for most Hondurans is daily survival, access to medical care, food, education, housing. Conditions for the poor majority in Honduras, as in most of Latin America, are continually worsening, as a result of structural injustice on a national and international level.
It is precisely in order to enable the poor to struggle democratically and non-violently that an
end must be put to state corruption and military impunity. A true democracy is a system in which
the poor, who are the majority in Latin America, can exercise their power as citizens without
fear of repression by official agents in the service of the privileged oligarchy.
4) The truth about U.S. government involvement in Latin American repression is still not fully known. During the past year officials admitted to teaching torture at the School of the Americas, in U.S. Army courses in Latin America, and in CIA training programs for Latin Americans; and CIA documents show that the Agency trained assassins for operations in Guatemala and Cuba.
It is time for the U.S. government to come clean on its complicity in the violation of human rights. The U.S. government must reveal the truth about its conduct in Honduras and must give genuine assistance to the Honduran government's efforts to prosecute guilty persons.
What right does the U.S. government have to demand that Honduras cooperate with its
judicial procedures in the case of Joseph Michel Francois (the former chief of police in Haiti
whom the U.S. wants to extradite from Honduras on drug charges), when the U.S. government
fails to cooperate significantly with the Honduran justice system in clarifying the cases of the
disappeared?
Sister Jean Brenner
John Patrick Carney
Matthew Eisen
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Father Joseph E. Mulligan, SJ
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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