Central America would be furthered if the U. S. provided military and economic support to Guatemala. A difficulty in implementing this policy was created by the reports by human rights organizations that torture and other gross human rights abuses are consistently practiced in Guatemala. A further difficulty was created by U. S. laws which would prohibit the aid that the Administration wanted to provide to Guatemala if those reports by human rights organizations are true. Accordingly, the Administration solved the problem by disputing the truth of the reports of torture and other gross violations of human rights in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the solution hit upon by the Administration does a disservice to the cause of human rights and to efforts to wipe out practices such as torture. Far from exposing torture, condemning it ourselves and organizing international condemnation, the Administration has put itself into a position where it denies the practice, condemns those who condemn it, and fights efforts to organize international condemnation. The Administration's representative at the United Nations, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick has distinguished herself as a leader in combatting efforts to condemn abuses such as torture. The least bad part of the present Administration's performance has been in the preparation and publication of the annual country reports on human rights. Though these are seriously flawed* and the language that is chosen to characterize reports of torture often varies depending on whether the country is allied to the United States, they reflect a conscientious effort to collect information and, because of their comprehensiveness, they are an invaluable resource. Regrettably, despite the information assembled in the country reports, it is virtually impossible to find any example in which the U. S. has publicly condemned torture in a country allied with the United States and no example comes to mind in which the U.S. has organized international condemnation of torture in such a country. I am aware, of course, that the Administration says it favors quiet diplomacy with friendly nations and I believe that quiet diplomacy is frequently the best method to promote human rights in a particular case. To the best of my knowledge, the Administration effectively acts in many particular cases through the use of quiet diplomacy and it deserves commendation for these efforts. * See "Critique: Review of the Department of State's What is wrong with the policy of quiet diplomacy, however, is, first, that it is not an appropriate way to deal with a such a consistent practice as torture is in many countries. A government may release a particular person from prison or stop torturing a particular person in response to quiet diplomacy. To stop a general practice of torture takes far more, however. It takes widespread condemnation. Second, the administration publicly and noisily acts as the apologist for torture by governments such as The worst failing of the present Administration in acting against torture lies in its ineffectuality in organizing international condemnation. This failing is divisible into two parts: there are those countries where torture is practiced consistently, such as El Salvador and Guatemala, where the U.S. makes no attempt to organize international condemnation and, indeed, fights attempts by others to organize international condemnation; and there are those countries where torture is practiced consistently, such as Afghanistan and Iran, where the U.S. makes an attempt to organize international condemnation but is not particularly successful. Given the appalling practices in Afghanistan and Iran documented by Amnesty International and many others, the opportunity to organize international condemnation is certainly present and, as best as can be determined, there is no lack of will in the present Administration. In my view, the ineffectuality of the United States is in significant part due to its lack of credibility as an evenhanded opponent of torture wherever it is practiced. The U.S. is perceived as using torture and other gross abuses of human rights committed by its antagonists as a means to belabor those antagonists. effort would be far more successful if the world perceived that the U.S. stands equally firmly against torture in El Salvador and Iran, in Guatemala and in Afghanistan and that we condemn torture as unreservedly in each instance. I believe that the Fortunately for the effort to abolish torture and other gross abuses of human rights, the policies of the United States are not exclusively shaped by its executive branch. Members of Congress, individually and collectively, have spoken out against torture all over the world. I would hope the Congress would go further and offer this proposal. I urge that the Congress study whether there are ways that it can make its own determination as to whether military aid, economic aid and multilateral loans should be withheld because governments consistently engage in torture. Perhaps this is an assignment that could be taken on by the General Accounting Office. If that is not- an appropriate agency for this task, perhaps the Congress can devise alternative ways to determine whether there is compliance with U. S. laws restricting assistance to governments consistently practicing torture. Finally, I urge members of this Committee, and other members of Congress, to use every occasion to criticize the Administration when it acts as an apologist for governments practicing torture. You may not be able to sway the Administration but, in the very process of signifying your dissent you will make it clear to other governments that there are many in the United States who do publicly condemn such practices, whichever government engages in them. Mr. YATRON. Thank you, Mr. Neier, for your statement. On page 2 of your statement, you list five or six countries, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Uruguay, where torture is regularly practiced. Mr. NEIER. Yes. Mr. YATRON. Why isn't Nicaragua included in there? Mr. NEIER. Well, the first reason is that I was discussing those countries which the United States aids militarily, economically or by support of multilateral development bank loans. The United States does not try to provide support for the Government of Nicaragua. If anything, the United States is trying to overthrow the present Government of Nicaragua. The United States certainly condemns abuses of human rights in Nicaragua at every opportunity, so that to the degree that I was focusing on U.S. policy, this was not an appropriate country to include in that particular list. There are serious abuses of human rights in Nicaragua. Just in the past month, my organization has published a report on abuses of human rights in Nicaragua, and in that report, we pay particular attention to abuses in detention facilities and we find some quite serious abuses taking place in detention facilities, particularly those not controlled by the regular prison system, but by the security police, and by the armed forces, and by the militia. And, I'd be happy to make a copy of that report available to the committee. Mr. YATRON. But there are reports of torture in Nicaragua. Mr. NEIER. There are reports-though it depends on how you define torture. If you define torture as a systematic practice which |