FIRST LADY PROMISES ASSISTANCE IN NUN'S CASE
THE WASHINGTON POST
Friday, April 5, 1996
By Ann Devroy Washington Post Staff Writer
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday promised an American nun that the Clinton administration will get "appropriate documents" related to her abuse by Guatemalan military officials declassified and released within six months, officials said yesterday.
The first lady made the pledge in a half-hour meeting she held yesterday with Dianna Ortiz, a 37-year old Ursuline nun who reported in 1989 that she was kidnapped, raped and tortured in Guatemala by the country's security forces. Ortiz, protesting the U.S. government's lack of response to requests for information on her case, has been holding a silent vigil in Lafayette Park across from the White House.
A year ago, President Clinton asked the Intelligence Oversight Board to conduct a probe of the case and whether U.S. government backed forces were involved or the United States was making payments to those involved in her torture.
Despite previous pledges from administration officials to speed the process of searching for any classified material about her case and releasing it, none has emerged.
A senior official said yesterday that Hillary Clinton asked to meet with Ortiz because she "felt some personal concern for her." Ortiz has been keeping her vigil about 20 hours a day since Monday.
Ortiz's case is one of several involving allegations of Guatemalan murder, torture or other abuse of American citizens in which CIA complicity is being charged. American lawyer Jennifer Harbury, whose husband, a Guatemalan rebel leader, was killed by a death squad, has accused the CIA of complicity in his killing.
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