DID REAGAN GO TOO FAR?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706690004-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: December 31, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Co~py~~A~(p'~proved for Release 2011/12/02 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706690004-3
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WASHI~lGTON TI"1ES
31 December 1985
?
1 ~ all O tOO ~' .
~ CAL ~~~ Mr. Hassan says the state security
here are those who believe
President Reagan went too
far when he called the San-
dinista government in
Nicaragua "thugs" and questioned
their motives for grabbing and hold-
ing onto power.
In light of recent testimony by a
Nicaraguan who fled the country for
his life only to be ignored by the elite
of the Washington press when he
came here to tell his story, the pres-
ident, in fact, may have been right on
target.
Jimmy Hassan, a native Nicara-
guan, was co-pastor of La Primers
Igleaia Centro Americana de Mana-
gua, one of the largest Protestant
congregations in the country. A law-
yer, Mr. Hassan also had served as a
judge in Nicaragua prior to his in-
volvement inchurch work four years
ago.
Mr. Hassan told a Washington
news conference that despite his
full-time religious work (or perhaps
because of it) he was roused out of
bed at 6 o'clock on the morning of
Oct. 31 by officials of state security,
who arrested him on charges of hav-
ing "counterrevolutionary litera-
ture:'
And what was this dangerous ma-
terial that threatened the existence
of the Sandinista regime? Was it ma-
terial similar to that taught in Nica-
raguan public schools, which por-
trays the United States as a great
enemy? Did it tell where to f ind arms
t0 overthrow the government vio-
lently?
No, this "counterrevolutionary lit-
erature" consisted of nothing more
than religious tracts published by
Campus Crusade for Christ, an or-
ganizationfor which Mr. Hassan also
did missionary work.
Mr. Hassan's account of his
treatment reminds one of the narra-
tives of those who survived the So-
viet gulags. As a matter of fact, the
Sandinistas probably learned many
of their tactics from master
teachers in Moscow, one of Com-
mandante Ortega's favorite tourist
stops (when he is not shopping in
New York for designer glasses with
his Diner's Club card).
people took him to the Campus Cru-
sade office in Managua and ordered
him to give them all his booklets,
which numbered about 2,000. They
then took him to the printer and con-
fiscated 50,000 more, ordering the
owner never to print them again on
penalty of imprisonment.
Next stop for Mr. Hassan was the
Ministry of Interior, where he says
he was put in an isolation room and
left alone for four hours. He was
then summoned before a woman
captain who, along with officers of
state security, "threatened me that if
anyone ever found out what they had
done, `you'll be sorry.' "They took out
a pistol and held it to his head to
emphasize their point.
Mr. Hassan says he was finally re-
leased at 4 p.m., but at 11 p.m. there
was a knock on his door and another
Interior Ministry official presented
him with a citation to appear at 8
o'clock the next morning.
When he arrived at the appointed
time, he was taken into a room where
three lieutenants of State Security
said they were first going to estab-
lish "the rules of the game:'
"First;' they said, "you are a dog
and your life has no value to us. Any
of us could kill you with pleasure.
You are an enemy of the revolution:'
Mr. Hassan says he was unsuc-
cessful in attempting to persuade
them that his sole activity revolved
around spiritual, not political, mat-
ters.
The asked him for his "CIA di-
re for in ; ana ua' ow muc t e
iA^vaidh'^' "'hate oartV e
was affiliated with, and wh he did
not make statements in avor or t~~e
San mists revo ution.
Mr. Hassan says he rejected all of
their questions and again stated his
religious mandate.
hat followed sounds as if it
came from one of Alex-
ander Solzhenitsyn's
books. An official entered the room,
held a gun to Mr. Hassan's head,
cocked it, and pulled the trigger. The
gun was empty. He was then
transported face-down in a jeep to a
state security jail where he was
pushed into a tiny room ("measuring
four hands by four hands") with no
ventilation or light and held for four
hours.
Mr. Hassan said because he had
refused to cooperate they threat-
ened to arrest his wife. They took
him to a "cold room" and then back
to the little room. He was shown
other rooms. When one door was
opened he saw a fellow staff member
fully clothed. Another door was
opened and a female staff member
stood there nude. They began to
question him again. He heard a
woman sobbing and was told it was
his wife.
Mr. Hassan was eventually re-
leased. He says in conversations he
has had with others who were ar-
rested, he was treated better than
the rest.
Mr. Hassan told reporters the San-
dinistaswere particularly upset that
he and his colleagues were preach-
ing to young people. He quoted one
as saying, "You separate them from
Marxism, and this we will never per-
mit:'
Mr. Hassan chronicled a number
of arrests of religious leaders in re-
cent weeks.
On Nov 3, he said, the Sandinistas
arrested the superintendent of the
Assemblies of God church in Nica-
ragua.
On Nov 5, they arrested the pres-
ident of the Evangelical Council of
Pastors and the vice superintendent
of the Assemblies of God.
On Nov 7, they arrested the pres-
ident of the Pastors of Managua and
one of his associates.
He said other Protestants ar-
rested in recent weeks include the
director of the Bible Society in Nica-
ragua, the head of Child Evangelism
Fellowship, two Campus Crusade
staff members, and various pastors
and other religious workers.
Far from overstating the case,
President Reagan was right in haul-
ing out the tough language against
the Sandinistas. Jimmy Hassan's
story of his ordeal and what others
are going through in Nicaragua is
proof enough.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndi-
catedcolumnist.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/02 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706690004-3