E1472 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks July 1, 1999 A TRIBUTE TO THE RECIPIENTS documents to yesterday's release. I applaud that the United States knew during and OF THE 1999 ``TRAIL BLAZING the Administration for releasing yesterday's after the coup about the Chilean military's FOR CHILDREN'' AWARDS WEEK- murderous crackdown on leftists. documents but I strongly urge them to con- On Sept. 21, 1973, 10 days after the coup, END AND THE RASHEED A. WAL- tinue to release documents on a timely basis one C.I.A. report said: ``The prevailing mood LACE FOUNDATION from all branches of the Administration, includ- among the Chilean military is to use the cur- ing the CIA. rent opportunity to stamp out all vestiges of The search for the truth is important not Communism in Chile for good. Severe repres- HON. ROBERT A. BRADY sion is planned. The military is rounding up OF PENNSYLVANIA only for the historic case against General Pinochet, but for Americans too who wish to large numbers of people, including students IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and leftists of all descriptions, and interning know what role their government may have Thursday, July 1, 1999 them.'' played in a violent period of history and how The report noted that ``300 students were Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I we may avoid playing such a role in the fu- killed in the technical university when they rise today to honor both the Rasheed A. Wal- ture. refused to surrender'' in Santiago, the cap- lace Foundation, host of the 1999 ``Trail Blaz- The New York Times notes also that not ital, and that the military was considering a ing for Children'' Award, and the recipients of only will the documents help Spain, but that plan to kill ``50 leftists'' for every leftist sniper still operating. the named award. Both the recipients and the Spain has already helped provide information In a summary of the situation in Chile a Rasheed A. Wallace Foundation have been in- to the United States that might help the Jus- month after the coup, a C.I.A. report dated strumental in improving the lives of children tice Department complete its still open case Oct. 12 found that ``security considerations throughout Philadelphia. In addition, I would against those responsible for the assassina- still have first priority with the junta.'' also like to extend congratulations to the Po- tion of Chilean exile Orlando Letelier and his ``The line between people killed during at- lice Athletic League of Philadelphia and Mr. American assistant Ronnie Karpen Moffitt in tacks on security forces and those captured and executed immediately has become in- Sonny Hill of the Sonny Hill Basketball League Washington, D.C. in 1976. It is widely be- creasingly blurred,'' the report continued. It on their outstanding accomplishments to youth lieved, but has not yet been proven, that Gen- said the junta ``has launched a campaign to in the Philadelphia community. eral Pinochet personally ordered Letelier's improve its international image; the regime Central to the focus of the Rasheed A. Wal- execution. shows no sign of relenting in its determina- lace Foundation has been ``Enhancing the The documents released yesterday further tion to deal swiftly and decisively with dis- Quality of Life for All People.'' The commit- demonstrate that the United States was well sidents, however, and the bloodshed goes on.'' ment of the foundation is seen each year dur- aware of atrocities taking place during and However, a C.I.A. report dated March 21, ing its Annual Coat Drive for the Homeless after the coup and that despite this knowledge 1974, insisted that ``the junta has not been and a series of contributions targeting youth the Nixon Administration sought to maintain bloodthirsty.'' recreation programs in the area. Such chari- close ties to General Pinochet. ``The Government has been the target of table efforts have been seen throughout his ``U.S. Releases Files on Abuses in Pinochet numerous charges related to alleged viola- professional basketball career. Era,'' The New York Times, July 1, 1999, tions of human rights,'' it said. ``Many of the Page A11. accusations are merely politically inspired The Rasheed A. Wallace Foundation is truly falsehoods or gross exaggerations.'' blazing trails for young people and the less ``Documents Show U.S. Knew Pinochet An estimated 5,000 people were killed in fortunate in Philadelphia. I salute Rasheed on Planned Crackdown in '73,'' The Washington the coup, including Chile's democratically his charitable contributions to our great city Post, July 1, 1999, Page A23. elected President, Salvador Allende, whose and give my best wishes for continued suc- [From the New York Times, July 1, 1999] body was recovered from the bombed re- mains of the Presidential Palace, which had cess to both the foundation and the award re- U.S. RELEASES FILES ON ABUSES IN PINOCHET been attacked by military jets. cipients. ERA Thousands more died or were tortured at f (By Philip Shenon) the hands of the military during General Pinochet's 17-year rule. Last week, the Chil- NEW REVELATIONS ON GENERAL WASHINGTON, June 30ÐThe C.I.A. and other Government agencies had detailed reports of ean College of Medicine reported that at PINOCHET AND THE UNITED widespread human rights abuses by the Chil- least 200,000 people had been tortured by STATES ean military, including the killings and tor- Government forces at the time. ture of leftist dissidents, almost imme- Under the Nixon Administration, the Cen- HON. GEORGE MILLER diately after a 1973 right-wing coup that the tral Intelligence Agency mounted a full-tilt United States supported, according to once- covert operation to keep Dr. Allende from OF CALIFORNIA secret Government documents released taking office and, when that failed, under- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES today. took subtler efforts to undermine him. The Thursday, July 1, 1999 The 5,800 documents which the Clinton Ad- C.I.A.'s director of operations at the time, ministration decided last year to declassify Thomas Karamessines, later told Senate in- Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. and make public could provide evidence to vestigators that those efforts ``never really Speaker, as my colleagues will recall, I have support the prosecution of Gen. Augusto ended.'' worked for several years now, along with Mr. Pinochet, who seized power in the coup and The C.I.A. has never provided a full expla- nation of what it knew about human rights CONYERS of Michigan and others here, to have was arrested in Britain last October. Spain is abuses carried out by the Chilean military the United States declassify documents con- seeking his extradition, charging that his junta had kidnapped, tortured and killed during and after the coup. But internal Gov- cerning Gen. Augusto Pinochet's 1973 military ernment documents released since have coup in Chile and its aftermath and what the Spanish citizens. The documents were released as Clinton shown that the agency's knowledge of the vi- United States knew about Pinochet's connec- Administration officials confirmed that the olence was extensive. The Clinton Administration announced tion to human rights violations and acts of ter- Justice Department has been conferring with last December that, as a result of the arrest rorism both in Chile and abroad. Spanish authorities, in part to exchange in- of General Pinochet, it would declassify A Spanish court is trying to extradite Gen- formation about General Pinochet, including some of the documents. eral Pinochet to stand trial in Spain for inter- his possible involvement in the 1976 car- The Administration described the move as national human rights violations. The docu- bomb assassination in Washington of the an attempt at Government accountability, ments held by the United States are expected Chilean Ambassador to the United States, and it was the first sign that the United to shed important light on Pinochet's activities Orlando Letelier, and a colleague, Ronni States intended to cooperate in the criminal Moffitt, of the Institute for Policy Studies. case being built against General Pinochet. that will help clarify his personal role in this Because the Justice Department considers bloody period of history. The vast majority of the documents re- the Letelier investigation to be ongoing, the leased todayÐ5,000 of the 5,800Ðcame from Yesterday, the first significant release of Government withheld documents related to the files of the State Department. The C.I.A. documents took place. I commend to my col- the murders, officials said today. released 490 documents, the Federal Bureau leagues the articles below, from the New York Historians and human rights advocates, of Investigation, 100, and the Pentagon, 60. Times and the Washington Post concerning who were busily trying to sort through the Human rights groups said they were sur- the 5,800 documents released at the National nearly 20,000 pages released today by the Na- prised by the paucity of documents declas- Archives. As you will note from the articles tional Archives, agreed that the documents sified by the C.I.A. did not offer startling revelations about ``The C.I.A. has the most to offer but also below, it is suspected that there are still many American ties to the Chilean junta under the most to hide,'' said Peter Kornbluh of more relevant documents that have not been General Pinochet. the National Security Archive, a public-in- released, particularly from the Central Intel- Instead, they said, the documents provide terest clearing-house for declassified docu- ligence Agency, which only contributed 490 rich new detail to support the long-held view ments. The documents that were released CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks E1473 today, he said, ``show that the C.I.A.