Battalion 316

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The battalion 316 or Spanish Batallón 316 (other names: Special Investigations Branch (DIES) (1982-1983), Intelligence Battalion 3-16 (from 1982 or 1984 to 1986), Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Branch (since 1987)) was the Name of a unit of the Honduran army responsible for political assassinations and torture of opposition members or suspects on behalf of the government. These acts were committed during the 1980s.

Members of the unit were trained and supported by the United States . Agents of the Central Intelligence Agency trained you in Honduras and at US Army sites in the United States. Battalion 601 (including Ciga Correa ), which had worked with the Chilean secret service DINA in the assassination of General Carlos Prats , had trained with Mohamed Alí Seineldín , of the Argentine Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance . At least 19 members of Battalion 3-16 were trained in the School of the Americas . Members of Battalion 3-16 were also trained by Augusto Pinochets Chile .

The name stands for the fact that the unit served three military units and sixteen battalions in the Honduran army. The reorganization of the unit under the name "Batallón de Inteligencia 3-16" is due to General Gustavo Adolfo Álvarez Martínez .

1980s

According to the human rights organization Committee of Relatives of the Arrested Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), Battalion 3-16 was formed in 1979 under the name "Group of 14". In 1982 it was renamed "Special Investigation Unit" (DIES) "and commanded by" Señor Diez (Mr. Ten). "According to a report by the National Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras , the unit became" Intelligence "in 1982 (according to COFADEH not until 1984) Battalion 3-16 ". The reorganization and renaming of the unit under the name" Intelligence Battalion 3-16 "was initiated by General Gustavo Adolfo Álvarez Martínez . Between 1987 and 2002 it became the" Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Branch ". called.

Connection with Argentina

Gustavo Alvarez Martínez, who was a colonel at the time , studied at the Colegio Militar de la Nación (Argentine Military School) and graduated in 1961. In late 1981, when 30,000 Argentines disappeared during the dirty war in Argentina , more than 150 Argentine officers were training in Honduras. This training ran under the code name Operation Charly and took place in training locations in Lepaterique ( Departamento Francisco Morazán ) and Quilalí ( Departamento Nueva Segovia ). The US secret service Central Intelligence Agency took over the training after Argentina's defeat in the Falklands War , but Argentine officers remained in Honduras until 1984-1986. The notorious Argentine torture school ESMA sent instructors to Honduras, including Roberto Alfieri González, who served in the National Guard of El Salvador, as well as the Guatemalas and Honduras.

Connection with the USA

The CIA played an important role in the training, funding, and equipment of Battalion 3-16. US Ambassador to Honduras during this time was John Negroponte , who met frequently with General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez. US documents formerly kept under lock and key show that Negroponte had received and sent telegrams documenting his complicity in serious human rights violations. The National Security Archive proves "reporting on human rights atrocities" by Battalion 3-16. Furthermore, Negropontess Messages showed no protests or a willingness to discuss the issue. Human rights violations were not an issue during Negroponte's meeting with General Alvarez and President Robert Suazo. Negroponte did not report the human rights violations to Washington.

1990s

In 2002, COFADEH claimed that many retired Battalion 3-16 members were in key positions in the training of police officers and secret police

2000s

The CODEH claimed that seven former members of the 3-16 ( Billy Joya , Alvaro Romero, Erick Sanchez, Onofre Oyuela Oyuela, Napoleón Nassar Herrera , Vicente Canales Rafael Nuñez, Salomón Escoto Salinas and Rene Maradianga Panchamé) in mid-2006 important positions in the Administration was held by President Manuel Zelaya .

After the 2009 coup in which Zelaya was ousted by the military and chased out of the country, Zelaya claimed that battalion 3-16, led by Joya, was back in operation. Joya was the advisor to de facto President Roberto Micheletti . Zelaya accused "Billy" Fernando Joya Améndola of using torture again. "

Requests for inspection of files

On December 3, 1996, members of the United States Congress including Tom Lantos , Joseph Kennedy (unrelated to John F. Kennedy), Cynthia McKinney , Richard J. Durbin , John Conyers, and others called on President Bill Clinton to file the files Human rights violations in Honduras should be fully disclosed. MPs alleged that the US government helped establish, train and equip Battalion 3-16, which was responsible for the kidnapping, torture, murder and disappearance of at least 184 Honduran students in the 1980s. Professors, journalists, human rights activists and others. "

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Honduras: Follow-up to HND38009.E of 4 December 2001 on the Patriotic Revolutionary Front (Frente Patriótico Revolucionario, FPR); Follow-up to HND38010.E of 4 December 2001 on whether Battalion 3-16 continues to operate; whether a death squad known as Group 13-16 operated at any time between 1990 and 1992; whether Colonel Alvarez Martinez or General Regalado Hernandez commanded either of these groups (1990-December 2001) . United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees . June 12, 2002. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Leo Valladares Lanza, Susan C. Peacock: IN Search of Hidden Truths -An Interim Report on Declassification by the National Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras . Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
  3. ↑ a b Gary Cohn, Ginger Thompson: When a wave of torture and murder staggered a small US ally, truth was a casualty , Baltimore Sun . June 11, 1995. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009. 
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Equipo Nizkor , LA APARICION DE OSAMENTAS EN UNA ANTIGUA BASE MILITAR DE LA CIA EN HONDURAS REABRE LA PARTICIPACION ARGENTINO-NORTEAMERICANA EN ESE PAIS. , Margins
  5. ↑ Vicky Imerman, Heather Dean: Notorious Honduran School of the Americas Graduates . Derechos Human Rights . 2009. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009. Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
  6. ↑ US continues to train Honduran soldiers . Republic Broadcasting Network. July 21, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2009. Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
  7. ^ PBS News Hour, Oct. 16, 1997, and others Argentina Death Toll , Twentieth Century Atlas
  8. ↑ a b The Negroponte File - Negroponte's Chron File from Tenure in Honduras Posted . National Security Archive . April 12, 2005. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved on August 2, 2009.
  9. ^ Clifton L. Holland: Honduras - Human Rights Workers Denounce Battalion 3-16 Participation in Zelaya Government ( pdf ) Mesoamérica Institute for Central American Studies . June 2006. Archived from the original on August 3, 2009. Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
  10. ↑ Amy Goodman: Zelaya Speaks . Z Communications . July 31, 2009. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved on August 1, 2009.