cries@mtxinu.COM (09/28/89)
/* Written 4:42 pm Sep 27, 1989 by cries in ni:cries.regionews */
/* ---------- "CosRica: Torture Chamber Denied" ---------- */
COSTA RICA: "TORTURE CHAMBER" DENIED, ANOTHER DISCOVERED
(cries.regionews from Managua September 27, 1989
The judicial branch of Costa Rica's government declared that
allegations of a "torture chamber" in the Organization of
Judicial Police (OIJ) building in the capital are false. In
a report made public in mid-August, the Judicial Inspections
Department said there was no basis to reports that prisoners
had been held in an underground chamber found last March.
(see Regionews #2; April 15, 1989)
In reprisal, the Judicial Prosecutor's Office ordered the
arrest of William Solis and Sergio Mora on charges that they
gave false testimony about being held in the chamber.
The Prosecutor for Human Rights is still investigating 14
other cases of torture allegedly committed by OIJ agents and
made public by the Costa Rican Human Rights Commission. The
Supreme Court also ordered Judicial Inspections to continue
looking into possible human rights violations within its own
OIJ department.
Representative of the National Assembly, Jose Maria Borbon,
who uncovered the underground chamber, asked: "The question
is, I went to this cell, and how did we know where to look?"
Last March, Borbon made a surprise tour of the OIJ building
in downtown San Jose with the acting OIJ chief, three other
parliamentarians, and a reporter in tow. He went directly to
a corner of a basement room used to hold suspects and
ordered officials to lift several tile-covered bricks.
Underneath, they found a 9-by-18-foot windowless room, 9
feet high. On the floor, which was covered in 6 inches of
water, were cigarette butts, scraps of food, syringes, and
paper plates and cups. It was quickly dubbed the "torture
chamber," as the Costa Rican Commission for Human Rights
produced witnesses who had allegedly been abused in it.
OIJ officials scrambled to explain, saying the chamber was
part of the original construction to help stabilize the
building during earthquakes, and the trash came from a small
gutter leading from a nearby medical office.
Borbon pushed for a Legislative Assembly commission to
investigate the OIJ, but some representatives worried about
the separation of powers and said the judicial branch should
be given the chance to investigate itself. (see Regionews
#7; July 1, 1989)
Self-investigation
The Judicial Inspections report stated the two cases it
probed were false, citing conflicting versions of what the
cell looked like, the time the alleged victims were in OIJ
hands, and similar discrepancies. Supreme Court president
Miguel Blanco said no human waste was found, as was
initially reported, and that "bloodstains" on the wall were
anti-corrosive red paint.
Blanco said the court has ordered Judicial Inspections to
continue probing allegations of human rights violations. "We
are not afraid to know the truth," he reportedly said, but
added, "We want the campaign to discredit the judicial
branch to stop, now that the only ones hurt will be all
Costa Ricans."
Blanco's opinion was supported by an editorial in the major
daily La Nacion. Under the headline, "The fiction of the
cells," the editorial commented, "Extremist groups or
domestic communists allied with foreigners...denigrated
Costa Rica" by accusing the OIJ of having a torture chamber.
Another "Fictitious" Cell?
On July 24, Borbon, accompanied by Minister of Justice, Dr.
Luis Paulino Mora, sealed the entrance to another cell found
on the island prison of San Lucas, approximately a one hour
boat ride from the Pacific coast town of Puntarenas.
Borbon had been denouncing the existence of this cell, in
which spoons, plates, cigarette butts, and some articles of
clothing were found, for several weeks. He presumed that the
cell was used to confine and torture prisoners, although
several prisoners consulted claimed to be unaware of the pit
as well as any supposed torture of fellow inmates.
Mora said he had no official information about supposed
tortures on the island, but formed his opinion on the basis
of what he saw: "Just putting a man in this place is cruel
and inhuman." He decided to close the pit in order to avoid
irregularities and the possibility of cruelty in the
national penitentiary system.
The island pit was a disc-shaped cellar about five feet by
15 feet found in an area of the prison used to hold inmates
that have tried to escape the island, been involved in
prison fights, or disobeyed authorities. A rusted steel lid
that blocked out all light was in the ceiling of the pit,
and the high temperatures of San Lucas and the company of
numerous scorpions would have made even a short stay in the
pit unbearable.
Tortured Past
Accusations of torture committed by government officials are
not new to Costa Rica. Allegations have been made that as
many as five Costa Ricans were trained in the use of torture
in Chile and Israel in the late 1970's and 1980's. Those who
have been investigating the whereabouts of these five
security agents have been threatened. In addition, seven
leftists accused of arms trafficking in 1983 charge they
were tortured while in OIJ custody.
It is doubtful that the Legislative Assembly will form a
commission now to investigate the OIJ. In June, Social
Christian Unity faction leader Luis Manuel Chacon said most
representatives wanted the judicial branch to do its own
"housecleaning". This week, he said he was sure torture was
not the policy of the OIJ and he did not think a commission
would be formed.
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