U.S. Helps Peru's Notorious Strongman Gain Asylum

by Jim Lobe Ê

"To claim victim status for Montesinos is nothing short of a farce," said Director of Human Rights Watch's Americas Division, Jose Miguel Vivanco, who has sent a letter to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso, urging her to deny Montesinos political asylum.

"In the long run," said Vivanco, "granting a safe haven to Montesinos will only reinforce impunity for human rights violations in Peru." He said Montesinos should be investigated and prosecuted in Panama for serious violations of human rights, including torture, under the UN Convention Against Torture which grants universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity.

"It is unacceptable for the U.S. government and the OAS to compromise basic human rights principles in this way, and it is unfair to expect Panama to be a dust bin in which to toss the continent's rejected strongmen," he added.

Other rights activists echoed Vivanco's views, with some claiming that Washington's efforts to find a home for Montesinos, the "eminence grise" of Pres. Alberto Fujimori, suggested that it wanted to arrange a comfortable retirement for a former ally who may know too much.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright denied that charge in hearings before Congress September 27. Washington, she said, did not believe that Montesinos should receive "either immunity or impunity."

But rights groups and others nonetheless expressed doubt about the State Department's initial explanation for pressing Panama to accept Montesinos. Senior officials have told reporters here that an army coup against Fujimori was imminent unless Montesinos was permitted to flee to a country which would grant him safe haven.

"The United States, along with the OAS and our partners in the hemisphere, supported the decision by Panama to receive Mr. Montesinos in order to resolve political tensions in Peru," a State Department spokesman said.

"However, the issue of political asylum is an entirely separate one, one for Panama to determine in accordance with its domestic laws. It is important to stress that at no time in this process has this administration sought impunity for Mr. Montesinos for prosecution for alleged crimes."

"A coup was not a legitimate concern given the level of opposition to Montesinos in both the navy and the air force and within the army, not to mention the general public," said Gina Amatangelo, a Peru specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group here.

Other experts on Peru's' military, including Cynthia McClintock at George Washington University, also voiced doubt about the danger of an army coup, insisting that Montesinos had little support among mid-level officers many of whom had become disgusted with his constant interference in the army's promotion process. Indeed, virtually all members of the army's high command owed their positions directly to him.

His announcement followed the airing of a video-tape which depicted Montesinos apparently bribing an opposition member of Congress in order to enlarge Fujimori's majority. The tape set off a political storm in Peru, and from a high-level OAS delegation which was working with the government and the opposition to promote democratic reforms in Peru in the wake of last May's contested elections.

The Clinton administration had already grown disenchanted with Montesinos and had been demanding his removal even before the scandal. U.S. officials reportedly were angered by evidence that Montesinos had approved and apparently profited from a gun-running operation for left-wing rebels in Colombia. "That was too much," said one official.

Until then, Montesinos had staunch defenders in the CIA and the Pentagon who praised his contributions to the crushing of the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) insurgency in the early 1990s, and to sharp reductions achieved in coca production in Peru during Fujimori's tenure.

Montesinos, a lawyer who represented prominent drug traffickers in the 1980s, was actually cashiered from the army in 1977 for allegedly spying on behalf of the CIA, and many analysts here say that his ties to the agency were never severed.

The CIA has declined to discuss the nature of its relationship with Montesinos, but there is little doubt that there was close cooperation between the two intelligence agencies throughout Fujimori's reign. Fujimori has himself bragged about Montesinos' collaboration with the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

But Montesinos' activities were not limited to counter-insurgency and drugs. He was seen here as the mastermind behind Fujimori's 1992 "self-coup" which resulted in his gaining unprecedented power over the branches of government. His intervention in military promotions, his reported direction of the "Colina Group," a death squad which reported to the SIN, and his use of the agency to intimidate and spy on the media and opposition figures made him the most-feared personality in the regime.

Despite these activities, no action has ever been taken against him in the Peruvian courts, largely because of the SIN's influence over the judiciary, according to Vivanco. Indeed, a judge who was considering charging Montesinos for corrupting a public official -- as evidenced by the videotape -- dropped the case today.

By arranging for Montesinos' escape to Panama, activists say that Washington and the OAS have severely undermined the principle of accountability which is essential to a successful democratic transition.

"Those responsible for corruption, serious human rights violations, and arms and drug-trafficking need to be investigated and prosecuted," said Amatangelo. "You can't have real democratic reform by sweeping things under the rug."

Indeed, to protest Montesinos' arranged exit and the OAS' role in it, the largest Peruvian human rights coalition, the National Coordinadora, announced on Sept. 25 that it was withdrawing from the high-level OAS mission's dialogue on democratization. It said that the OAS' role was "unacceptable" and "contrary to the principles of the American Convention on Human Rights."

In his letter to Moscoso, Vivanco pointed out that granting refuge to a public official credibly alleged to have committed grave violations of human rights in his country contravenes basic principles of asylum law which explicitly deny the right of asylum to rights abusers. Under the Convention against Torture, to which Panama is a party, the host country is required to prosecute or extradite torturers found on its territory.

Moscoso reportedly initially rejected pleas to permit Montesinos entry, but, after hearing pleas from Gaviria, several South American leaders, and the United States, agreed to let him and half a dozen of his aides in on tourist visas. Panama has been a popular destination for foreign dictators long supported by Washington, and especially by the CIA.

In 1994, Haitian Gen. Raoul Cedras, who received a substantial stipend from the CIA, was transported to Panama aboard a U.S. military plane and now lives there comfortably. In 1979, Washington arranged for the Shah of Iran to gain refuge there after fleeing the country during the Islamic Revolution.