U.S. REPORT BLASTS CHILE ON RIGHTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080059-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 59
• Publication Date: February 14, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Si Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-
MIAMI HERALD
The assessments in the Caribbe-
an Basin came as no surprise, but
the harsh judgment bestowed on
Chilean President Augusto Pino-
chet's government marked a sharp
departure from previous reports
that were much more restrained.
Overall, the report said, the
Western Hemisphere registered
the greatest. improvement in hu-
man rights conditions of any
world region last year.
Elliott Abrams, assistant secre-
tary of state for human rights and
humanitarian affairs, pointed out
that several countries have gone
from military dictatorship to de-
mocracy in recent years, and "zero
Vu OHL_?
00965R000201080059-0
US. report blasts chile
on rights
WASHINGTON - The Reagan administration released its
annual human rights, report Wednesday, criticizing Chile, Cuba and
Nicaragua and hailing improvements in two Central American allies.
El Salvador and Guatemala.
countries have gone from democ-
racy to dictatorship. That's a very
impressive trend.' .
Abrams acknowledged, , howev-
er, that "the greatest disappoint-
ment would be. Chile, where it
appears that the movement
toward a return to democratic
government has been stalled and
the degree '.of -political repression
has grown during the year."
The 1,453-page 1984 edition of
the State Department's Country
Reports on Human Rights Prac-
tices took Chile sharply to task in
a reflection of U.S. frustration
with Pinochet's refusal to imple-
ment political reform.
Last week, the administration
signaled displeasure by abstaining
on the vote for a $130 million
Inter-American Development
Bank loan for Chile. Despite this,
Pinochet on Tuesday fired his
Cabinet chief and finance minister,
who both. were seen as relative
moderates.
The U.S. has beenf particularly
14 February, 1985
As a result of the restrictions,
the report said, "the government
conducted several mass sweeps of
poorer neighborhoods involving
the temporary detention of over
8,000 persons;' sent 421 persons,
mainly alleged petty criminals, to
a remote detention camp without
trial and internally exiled another
257 persons without charges or
trial."
Criticism of Cuba echoed previ-
ous reports, denouncing President
Fidel Castro for "continued abuses
of basic human rights ... as well
as the denial of fair. public trial,
the use of torture and other
inhuman practices."
"Credible information" sent
from Cuba last summer by an
apparently clandestine Cuban
Committee on Human Rights de-
scribed the firing squad executions
of 37 persons and death sentences
for 131 others between October
1983 and May 1984, the- report
said.
The document also listed reports
of torture, disappearances and
arrests of dissidents. In one case, it
By ALFONSO CHARDY
Herald Washington Bureau
said authorities arrested five
youths between 16 and 18 years',
old and sentenced them to as much
as five years in jail for writing
"Viva Reagan" and "Viva U.S.A."
on school walls.
In Nicaragua, the report said,
the Marxist-led Sandinista govern-
ment continued to "tighten con-
trol" over society and continued to
support "terrorist" activity in
other countries, notably El Salva-
dor. The report commended the
Sandinistas, however, for reducing
illiteracy and enhancing medical
care.
The document said there were'
continuing "credible reports" that
Nicaraguan security forces tor-
critical of Pinochet's Nov. 6 deci-
sion to reinstate restrictions on
constitutional rights despite inter-
national pressures to lift them, as a
gesture to the moderate opposi-
tion.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080059-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080059-0
tured and killed Miskito Indians
and confiscated or destroyed their
food supplies and property.
It also cited information from
the Nicaraguan Permanent Human
Rights Commission that Sandinista
forces killed at least six political
foes in 1984.
By contrast, the report said
"there has been substantial prog-
ress" in El Salvador since the
election of President Jose Napo-
leon Duarte last year. It cited a.
sharp decline in the number of
disappearances and right-wing
death squad killings.
It said civilian deaths declined
from 139 per month in 1983 to 46
per month in the last half of 1984.
The report said the Salvadoran
armed forces continue to be ac-
cused of human rights violations,
particularly civilian deaths caused
by air strikes against guerrilla
strongholds.
However., the document defend-
ed the air raids and said most of
the accusations were exaggerated
or baseless because they came
from the guerrillas themselves or
from sources sympathetic to the
insurgents.
Abrams denied that the report
minimized alleged atrocities at-
trifiuted to CIA-organized rebels in
Nicaragua while accusin EI Sal-
vador's leftist guerri as with hu-
man-rights violations.
"The human rig is report states
that the [Nicaraguan] government
claims that the guerrillas killed
1,000 civilians in 1984 and tor-
tured and summarily executed
prisoners," Abrams said. "So we
do state the view of the govern-
ment of Nicaragua, though you
might expect that we do not
necessarily agree with that view."
The report said conditions in
Guatemala, where the administra-
tion wants to resume full-fledged
military aid this year, have also
improved as a result of the
military government's move to-
ward elections.
"Politically-related deaths,". -it
added, "remained significantly be-
low the 1981-82 levels although
'they continued to be a major
problem."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201080059-0