HONDURAS WORKING GROUP INQUIRY CONCERNING AGENCY ACTIVITIES IN HONDURAS IN THE 1980'S

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0001338916
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: June 23, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2010
• Case Number: F-2001-01650
• Publication Date: February 6, 1996

February 6, 1996
MEMORANDUM FOR: Honduras Working Group
FROM:
SUBJECT:
Honduras Working Group Inquiry Concerning Agency
.Activities in Honduras in the 1980's
Honduras Working Group Questions --
I. Father Carney, the Olanco Operation, and Reyes Mata - 1983-84
(S):
Note:
Mata incursion su seq
Questions:
A. Do you recall the late 1983 Olanco Operation, also known
as the Patuca River Operation? Do you recall anything about how
Reyes Mata died? What do you remember, if anything, about an
American priest's involvement with Reyes Mata's group, whether he
was present during the operation, and what may have happened to
him? Do you recall whether this American priest may have been
Father James Carney, alias "Padre Guadelupe"?
Answer: I was aware in general terms of the Reyes Mata group
incursion in 1993, based upon general public information and
Agency correspondence read at the time and later. I have no
direct knowledge of the events. Recall that Reyes Mata was a
Cuban and Nicaraguan trained revolutionary to led an armed column
of insurgents into the Olanco district of Honduras from Nicaragua
in 1993. The group was poorly trained, poorly motivated, and the
APPROVED FOR RELEASED DATE:
29-Jun-201 0
SEC T
 area was one of almost no local population and triple canopy
jungle. Some group members deserted/defected, some starved to
death, and some died in armed clashes with the Honduran military.
Recall that there was virtually no local support for the group by
Honduran peasants, which the insurgents encountered when they
emerged from the northern edge of the jungle, and that the
peasants quickly reported the presence and location of the
insurgents to Honduran authorities. Have no recollection of
"Padre Guadelupe", beyond that he may have been one of the group
members who died of starvation.
B. Do you remember whether was tasked to
ascertain what happened to Carney? a was
response?
Answer: I do not recall speci
ic taskin
t
fi
g
o
nd
f
out what happened to Carney We all were
well aware, however, that any in orma ion re gar I.ng he
disappearance of a political activist priest, U.S. Citizen or
not, was to be reported immediately upon receipt and in detail.
=?r ..~~.< a1Jvu1- Lue v.ianco operation, Reyes Mata, and/or Carney,
and what did they tell you?
0 were
ruiting personto fight
with Reyes Ma a a een duped by the rec
felt betrayed, and had deserted once they were backinHonduras.
This information was not new, it had been reported
ere ore i i not reac reporting -es o
This was part of a general review of then ongoing
Honduran leftist revolutionary training in, or transit through
Nicaragua.
D. What was your understanding of the Embassy's role in the
investi ation of the disappearance of father Carney? Did
the Defense Attaches, and the State Department officers
cooperate in the investigation? What was the coordination
process, and who had the lead in the investigation?
 Answer: I have no recollection of the Embassy's role in any
such investigation and no knowledge of
such a role before or since ose a es.
E. What do you know about the U.Z. military's operations in
Olancho in September 1983? Are you aware of any CIA officers who
were working in Olancho (particularly at Aguacate) during the
Olancho operation, and what can ou tell
activities if any
Answer: I have no knowled e of the U.S. militar i 1,, 's o erations
in this eriod.
II. State Department Human Rights Reports
A. What was your understanding of the role of
Headquarters in providing information to the Sta "e-ep:ar ment
or the Department's yearly human rights report to congress?
What was the coordination process?
Answer: My understanding was and is that we provided
information to the Department of State on human rights issues via
normal intelligence dissemination routes, when we had access to
protected information that reached.dissemination threshold, and,
that the Department used all source information, including
dissems, in compiling the reports to congress. Coordination on
such reports would have been the function of managers
above me. I am not familiar with the specific coordination
process employed E-:-= at that time.
B. Do you recall who took the lead in re aring the report at
the Embassy? What information did provide that
person? How was agency information incorporated into the-
reports? What disagreements, if any, concerning the Honduras
human rights reports do you recall? How were they resolved.
Answer: I do not have memory of coordinating on such reports
and cannot comment beyond saying I presume the
asst' po 1 ical counselor took the lead in preparing the
Embassy human rights reports.
 C. Do you recall any classification issues? Was there any
human rights information considered too sensitive for
the report? If so, why? 1= =
Answer: I am aware of no specific classification or
sensitivity issues, although classification and sensitivity could
have been relevant issues, since disseminated Intel reports had
ORCON controls, and Embassy/State could not expand distribution
of the Intel data, or downgrade classification of material from
the disseminated reports without Agency concurrence.
T is section is no app ice e o respon en .
IV. Congressional Notification and Politicization F_
A. do you know if
congressiona iifix; ea~ons visiting on uras asked about human
rights issues? What did the Embassy tell them? Are
you aware of any failure to prove e information to congress or to
congressional dele ations concernin human ri hts abuses
committed
in Honduras? Are you aware of any information on
ins ances of human rights abuse in Honduras that you believe
should have been, but was not passed to Headquarters,
policymakers, and/or Congress?
J I o reca earing, probably sometime in 1986, that
congressional oversight committee members, and/or staffers-had
memo-dissems: see V-BandE below), and had been favorably
y - 1VC
impressed by this human rights reporting. I am aware of no
failure to inform Congress, Headquarters or policymakers of any
human rights abuses conm i +-i--A
instances o omen rig s abuse in Honduras that yshould vhave been
but were not passed to Headquarters, Congress or policymakers.
f\3V- I
 B. Do you recall any cases of politicization of reporting on
Honduras? Do you recall any analysis being altered in response
to political concerns? If so, who suggested that it be changed,
and for what reasons?
Answer: I am not aware of any politicization of reporting on
Honduras, and recall no analysis being altered in response to
policy concerns.
V. Honduran securit /intelligence service involvement in human
rights incidents
B. Did you ever have concerns that particular units might
have been engaged in specific humarr rights abuses (special unit
of FUSEP/DNI, the 316th Military Intelligence Battalion, the
Counter-Intelligence Division of the C-2?) Did you ever have
concerns that any of these units/personnel might have been
engaged in summary killings other than in combat? If so, what
was the basis for your concerns? Did you ever discuss such
concerns with any other Agency/State/DOD personnel?
Answer: Information
par imapar litaries of th indicated that
Honduran Anti-Communist Liberation Army
(ELACH), associated with the DNI, had engaged in selective
kidnapping, interrogation and summary killings of leftists
between 1980 and 1984 with the approval of Chief of the Honduran
A
rmed Forces and the Honduran President.
these killings en a in 1984 when Bg.
Gen. Walter Lopez Reyes ecame Commander of the Honduran Armed
Forces. I discussed this information with
SEC ET n 3v.~
 Headquarters disseminated the i
f
ti
n
orma
on to
policymakers, including the Director of Intelligence and Research
at State, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Director
of the National Security Agency, Special Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs, and the National
Security Council. provided the information
to USCINSO. I later ear t ~att congressional oversight
or committee staffers had been briefed on the
nformation.
worked to ensu th t h
r
t
e a
ese past
abuses did not recur.
C. To your knowledge, did take any action to
resolve allegations of human ri.g is abuses--by the Hondurans or
security/intelligence units
Answer: Such allegations were of
management emphasized to
personnel-the
L At the same time, we were
a ert for any information to corro orate such charges. The
F reporting discussed above, is the result of
protecting human rig ts,
importance of
sensitivity to this issue, and collec ion
D. Do you know of any abuses/human rights incidents possibly
committed by Honduran security or intelligence units that -- for
lack of evidence or any other reason -- were never reported
officially (e.g., cable or memos) to Headquarters?
If so, please describe the incident an your understanding of why
it was not reported. Who decided not to report it? ..
Answer: I am aware of no Agency
collected information, concerning uman rs.ghts abuses or
incidents possibly comauitted b Honduran security or intelligence
units that was not reported to Headquarters.
E. What do you know about the Honduran Anti-Communist
Liberation Army (ELACH) and any human rights abuses it may have
committed? Do you know of any Honduran security/intelligence
alertness.
SOT
 personnel who may have belonged or had contact with ELACH? If
so, who were they and what was their relationship with ELACH?'
What efforts did L undertake to collect additional info on
ELACH and Mario Izaguirre, head of ELACH.
Answer: All that I knew and know of ELACH was reported
f J Ad it- iona e orts were ma e
officers to collect on ELACH and on ario za uirre includin
via additional
Do not reca any signs scant a itiona in ormation eing
Co ected. Please see answer to V-B above for additional
details.
Answer:
/T a'361q
 SUBJECT:
Signed:
February 6, 1996