NICARAGUA REBELS LINKED TO DEATHS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790065-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 65
• Publication Date: January 20, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0403790065-1
r X11 E APPEAREQ'
11 t1c 14
NICARAGUA REBELS
LINKED TO DEATHS
Hondurans Say the Guerrillas
Apparently Tried to Disrupt
Gun Flow to Salvador
By. JAMES LeMOYNE
Spedtl to The Neil Yatt Times
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Jan. 19
- Nicaraguan rebels are suspected of
having killed several Hondurans and.
Salvadorans in Honduras from 1981 to
1989, apparently in an effort to end gun-
running operations from Nicaragua to
El Salvador, according to a Honduran
official and Hondurans with dose con-
tacts in the Government.
Many of the killings are believed to
have been connected with the activities
of a secret, army-backed, Honduran
paramilitary group known as the "Spe-
cial Investigations" unit.
The unit reportedly used Nicaraguan
rebels in its operations, according to
two of the sources. Honduran soldiers
are also reported to have carried out
several killings, they said.
A senior Nicaraguan rebel official,
'Adolfo Calera, denied in a telephone in-
terview that members of his organiza-
tion had been involved in the killings. A
bassy said he had heard of charges :. The Reagan Administration author-
against the rebels but that no evidence ized the Central Intelligence Agency to
-had been shown to the embassy. train and supply Nicaraguan rebels in
Honduran Army Report - 1981 with the stated purpose of "inter-
Information on the slayings, as well dicting" suspected shipments of arms
between
as on other suspected killings by sup- Nicaragua and El Salvador.
porters of Salvadoran guerrillas and of 'beee n C.I.A. under involvement intense nt Congressional the rebels has
pscru-
the Sandinista Government in Nicara- tiny.*since the disclosure of a C.I.A.,
gua, is believed to be contained in a re- tftintng manual -that" instructed the'
port by Honduran Army investigators, rebels to 1"neutralize" selected Nicara
according to a Honduran military offi- guan officials. .
NF,1 YOPY, TINS
20 January 1985
cial. The army investigators spent
seven months studying the deaths and
disappearances of at least 247 Hondu-
rans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Costa
Ricans and citizens of other countries
here in recent years.
The report remains secret and it is
not known what evidence it offers of
political killings. Some of the study's
findings have been selectively dis-
closed Honduran' military officials,
and the disclosure has provoked specu-
lation and controversy here.
In a press statement made public
last month, the army said it was "not
possible to pronounce with absolute
certainty on the disappearances of per-
sons" or to "identi yf those . responsi-
ble." The statement said the army
would continue Its investigation for 90
.:more days.
According to one senior Honduran
officer, the report offers evidence that
Nicaraguan rebels killed 18 to 20 Ron- ,
durans. The Nicaraguans are also sus-
pected in some of the disappearances
or killings of more than 80 Salvadorans
between 1981 and 1984, according to a
Honduran familiar with the cases.
Aiding Salvadoran Rebels
A' Honduran leftist= with intimate
knowledge of the activities of Salvado-
ran guerrilla groups here said most of
the 247 people who were killed or who
disappeared were involved in activities
to aid Salvadoran rebels. A Honduran
official said most of those killed were
involved in gunrunning operations.
"They were destroyed," said a Hon-
duran leftist, who said one of his rela=
fives is among the missing. "This was
the objective. Most of the disappeared
Al some Honduran, sources
suggested the C.I.A. was aware of ef-
forts here to eliminate support for Sal-.
vadoran guerrillas, there is no - evi-
dence to confirm direct C.I.A. involve-
ment in the actual operations. A
spokesman for the United States Em-
bassy here refused to comment when
asked about possible C.I.A: contact
with those believed to have carried out
political killings. ?
[George Lauder, a spokesman for
the Central Intelligence Agency in
Washington, said, "The agency will
not comment on alleged covert ac-
tivities in Central America."]
Rebel Leader's Comment
Mr. Calero, the bead of the main
Nicaraguan rebel group, the Nicara-
guan Democratic Force, denied in a
telephone interviewv today that mem-
bers of- his group had been involved in
Political killings here. He said, the
rebels were willing to cooperate with
I4onduran'Government investigators to
prove their innocence. .
"There is no such thing,". he said.
"They are trying to smear us all over."
Reports of a suspected Nicaraguan
rebel role in such killings may be
prompted by political considerations.
The Honduran Army command is '
known to be worried by the cutoff of
United States aid to 12,900 Nicaraguan
guerrillas whose camps are on the Hon-
duran border.
Some politicians here say they be-
lieve that Honduran officers are dis-
closing information about the rebels
both to deflect criticism of army in-
volvement in political killings and to,
prepare the ground for an`b4ulsi6n of
the Nicarag ian rebels if the United
States Congress does not approve aid*
for the insurgents this year.
Honduran human rights activists
have repeatedly blamed the army for
involvement in political killings here.
Dr. Ramon Custodio_ head of the
Honduran Human Rights Commissiop,
said in an interview that the army was
blaming the rebels to avoid admitting'
having a role in the killings. He said his
group had no evidence of Nicaraguan
rebel involvement in such activities.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/28: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0403790065-1