LETTER TO DAVE GRIES FROM BERNARD F. MCMAHON

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01390R000500590032-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: February 19, 1986
• Content Type: LETTER

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/09: CIA-RDP90BO139OR000500590032-6
DAVE DURENBERGER. MINNESOTA, CHAIRMAN
PATRICK LEAHY, VERMONT, VICE CHAIRMAN
'VILLIAM V. ROTH. JR.. DELAWARE LLOYD BENTSEN, TEXAS
WILLIAM S. COHEN, MAINE SAM NUNN, GEORGIA
ORRIN HATCH, UTAH THOMAS F. EAGLETON, MISSOURI
FRANK MURKOWSKI, ALASKA ERNEST F. HOLLINGS. SOUTH CAROLINA
ARLEN SPECTER, PENNSYLVANIA DAVID L BOREN, OKLAHOMA
CHIC HECHT, NEVADA BILL BRADLEY, NEW JERSEY
MITCH MCCONNELL, KENTUCKY
ROBERT DOLE. KANSAS, EX OFFICIO
ROBERT C. BYRD, WEST VIRGINIA, EX OFFICIO
BERNARD F. MCMAHON, STAFF DIRECTOR
ERIC D. NEWSOM, MINORITY STAFF DIRECTOR
CPA FILE ---'S
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
February 19, 1986
In response, please
refer to #86-0546
Mr. Dave Gries
Director
Office of Congressional Affairs
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
g (o -L0o3
A former Salvadoran army officer who reportedly served
under the G-5 in the General Staff, Lt. Ricardo Ernesto
Castro, has told news reporters that he commanded death
squad operations and at one point served as a translator
for a CIA trainer who, during a course on interrogation
techniques, discussed the effective administration of electro-
shock techniques. Some of these allegations are contained
in the attached Associated Press story; others were described
to a member of our staff by a reporter.
The Committee examined in 1984 the question of political
violence in El Salvador, but this matter did not come to our
attention. We would appreciate your finding out what truth
there may be to Mr. Castro's charges and letting us know.
and F. McMahon
United *ates
Staff Director
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/09: CIA-RDP90BO139OR000500590032-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/09: CIA-RDP90BO139OR000500590032-6
&th~SaIvadoran officer,
admits d
killing~
?asilssgtaa. AC
A former Salvadoran army officer,
planning to seek political asylum in
the United States, says he participet.
ed in death-squad killing: in the ear.
ly ltldtls and witnewsd the slaughter
of civillam. by El Salvador's U,s.
backed military.
Former U. Ricardo Ernesto Castro,
35, a 1973 West Point graduate, de.
scribed death equed klllIn of sus.
pected subversives as a routine ac-
tlvl.,y of the Salvadoran Army In ear-
ly 1981. Re said be commanded four
assassination missions, claiming
about a dozen lives,
Castro said he also saw the army
e
xecute women and children during
leave the bodies site s11811 01 hallow lssttreams Castro id he came to the United
as a warning to leftist guerrillas, States In mid-1982 to tell U.S, oftl-
.._c
a
uatear'rourgency sweep now the ,ar o Iirnas o esb o
" My company was thirsty, but the
soldiers would not take water from
one of these streams because of
these kids' corpses," Castro said re.
costly.
Castrto, woo left El Salvador in mid-
1983- l; the ft Salvadoran army
officer In publicly state that he par-
tiMpsted in deetb-squad ki
Castrdssaid hei recruited to work
with ? CUs tlspd served via transla-
tor Anerk*n who trained the
sod et feiy on interrogttlon
tecb Is 'laid the U.S. trainer
tip.
wd~
~CMtro', Idh support allep-
did not advocate torture, but suggest-
ed that suspeetrt be kept "completely
disoriented" by keeping them leolst.
ed and employing psychological tac-
You're going to get dressed up as a
civilian and you're going to to out
and this Individual will show you the
way.'
"He knows who you have to eliml-
nate. He might give you a small list.
You to out like you were a subver.
sive. You leave the trucks far away,
take the weapons a subversive would
take, pretty much try to pass off as a
subversive."
Castro said an informer - known as
a "chanidue" - would direct the
soldiers to a house and identify the
target. "We'd kill him right on the
spot," the former lieutenant said. If
Mao killings also occurred in mili?
Lary sweeps through guerritladomi.
hated areas, he said. Castro said he
witnessed the slaughter of unarmed
civilians during the U.S.-trained Atla-
cati battalion's march to the Lempa
River on the Honduran border in
November 1981.
"The first day ... we encountered an
awful lot of resistance, but after the
first day you practically got nothing.
... What really made me (and) a lot
of soldiers sick ... occurred then"
when the army cornered civilians
near the river,
"Twenty-two or 24 were killed . in
front of my troops. I didn't like it. one
bit, little girls yelling, 'kttima.
mama; someone being killed In cold
blood."
CfE
of civtuans. AYfiag than years
th
S?A?L?E
AREA'S LARGEST SELECTION
,
e
Rfagan administration disputed
Partial List
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t of the Qharges but aettnowl-
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that som4 abuses occurred.
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The admi
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nistration now contends
abuts have - largely been brought
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.
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Sate firepower In th! countryside.
! Mtl~lated 80.000 civilises have
ref, In tae Mao stud use Indiscrifni-
vials about the corruption and atroc-
ities that many young officers felt
were undermining prospects for re-
storing peace in El Salvador. After
his appeals received little attention,
he said he decided to stay In Wash.
ington with his wife and three chil-
dren and plans to request asylum,
by the armed forces," Castro laid.
"It was one of these deals when you
Come back from a mission, the colo-
nel calls you over and says, 'Lleuten-
ant. you're going out on a mission.
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11A
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