TORTURE'S TEACHERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200230007-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: June 11, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

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~''1 Ap~roved For Release 2100Wdi'/1339''GIA-RDP88-01350R0002pp230O0772 L J
LOS ANGELES --'?A dew months
a o, I received some clippings of inter-
ve:vs with a former Federal intelli-
;erce agency official. That operative,
Jesse Leaf, had been involved with the
agency's activities in Iran, and well
iaco the stories Mr. Leaf made some
By A.J. Langguth
damning accusations.
He said that the C.I.A. sent an mean we as Americans - don't be-
o2erative to teach interrogation meth- lieve it. We can read the accusations,
cis to SAVAK, the Shah's secret po- even examine the evidence and find it
lace, that the training included instruc- irrefutable. But, in our hearts, we can-
tion in torture, and the techniques not believe that Americans have gone
.were copied from the Nazis. abroad to spread the use of torture.
Reading through the clippings, I
could think of several reasons why the
prominently. Mr. Leaf could not, or evil. And when the cumulative proof
did not, supply the name of the instruc- becomes overwhelming that our rep-
tor, his victims would be hard to lo. resentative in the C.I.A. or the Agency ..I
cafe; and the testimony from oppo- for International Development police
nents of the Shah would be suspect. program did in fact teach torture, we
But there is still another reason that excuse ourselves by vilifying the indi-
I take to be the truest one: We- and I._ vidual men.
with reputations for brilliance car} be
This has been on my mind since.I re-
turned from Cuba recently. In Hava-
na, I had tried to hunt down a former
double agent, a Cuban named Manuel,
who was said to have information
about United States involvement with
torture in Latin America. Manuel had
revealed his true sympathies by leav-
ing his job with the C.I.A. in Montevi-
deo and returning to his homeland. But
from his editor I learned that Manuel,
whose full name turned out to,,be
Manuel Hevia Cosculluela, would be
out of the country the entire time I was
in Cuba. I could, however, get a copy
of the book he had published six
months earlier, "Pasaporte 11333,
Eight Years With the C.I.A."
Mr. Hevia had served the C.I.A. in
Uruguay's police program. In 1970, his
duties brought him in contact with
Dan Mitrione, the United States police
adviser who was kidnapped: by the
Tupamaro revolutionaries later- that
year and shot to death when the Uru-
guayan Government refused to save
him by yielding up political prisoners.
Mr. Mitrione has become notorious
throughout Latin America. But few
men ever had the chance to sit with
him and discuss his rationale for tor-
ture. Mr. Hevia had once.
Now, reading Mr. Hevia's version,
which I believe to be accurate, I see
that I too had resisted acknowledging
hour drastically a man's career can de-
form him. I?was aware that Mr. Mitr-
lone knew of the tortures and condoned
them. That was bad enough- I could
not believe even worse of a family.
man. A Midwesterner. An American-
Thanks to Mr. Hevia, I was finally
hearing Mr. Mitrione's true voice:
"When you receive a subject, the
first. thing to do is determine his physi-
cal state, his degree of resistance,
through a medical examination. A
premature death means a failure by.
the technician.
"Another important thing to know is.
exactly how far you can go given the
political situation and the personality
of the prisoner. It is very important to,
know beforehand whether we have the
luxury of letting the subject die..
-"Before all else, you must be effi-.
cient. You must cause only the dam-
age that is strictly necessary, not a bit,
more. We must control our tempers in
any case. You have to act with the effi-
ciency and cleanliness of a surgeon.
and with the perfection of an artist :.. .
A few months later, Mr.. Mitrione
paid with his life for those excesses.
Five years later, thanks to the effort of.
such men as former Senator James
Abourezk, the police advisory pro.
gram was finally abolished.
But few of the accomplices in tor-
ture have ever been called to account.'
Years ago in open hearings, Senator
Frank Church tried to force some ad-
missions but his witnesses sidestepped
his staff's sketchy allegations.. Given
the willingness of Congress to accept
the C.I.A.'s alibis about national se-
curity, I don't think any other public_
hearings would fare better. .
But neither Jimmy Carter nor Adni.
Stanfield Turner, the Director of Cen-
tral Intelligence, is implicated in those
past cruelties, and the President- '
should call on Admiral Turner- for a
complete internal investigation. and a.
full report. If he wants Vice President.
Mondale to oversee the effort, all the'!
better. They can start with Operation
Bandierantes in Sao- Paulo, Brasil,,
continue with Manuel Hevia's expose
of practices in- Uruguay, and then
move on to Chile, Iran and Southeast
Asia- - .
If, at the. end, the President. can as:
sure us that no American who taught
or condoned torture is still working for-'
the C.I.A. or any other agency of the
Government, I know that at least we-11
will want to believe him- -
A.T. Langguth is the author of den Terrors, "a book about the Central'
Intelligence Agency in Latin America.
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