Violent Exile Luis Posasa Subject of First Congressional Hearing Resent-Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:46:28 -0600 (CST) National Security Archive Update, November 14, 2007 VIOLENT EXILE LUIS POSADA SUBJECT OF FIRST CONGRESSIONAL HEARING National Security Archive Senior Analyst Peter Kornbluh Will Testify Tomorrow at Delahunt Hearing on the Bush Administration's handling of Posada's Case For more information contact: Meredith Fuchs/Tom Blanton - 202/994-7000 http://www.nsarchive.org Washington D.C., November 14, 2007 - Two and half years after the renowned violent Cuban exile and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles returned to the United States, and six months after he was freed from immigration detention, Congress will hold its first hearing tomorrow on how the Bush Administration has handled his case. Peter Kornbluh, who directs the National Security Archive's Cuba Documentation Project, will testify before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, chaired by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA). The hearing will take place at 3 pm in Room 2237 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Other witnesses include Roseanne Nenninger, the sister of a Guyanese medical student killed on the plane, and journalist Ann Louise Bardach, who interviewed Posada for the New York Times in 1998. Posada's lawyer, Arturo Hernandez, is also scheduled to appear. Kornbluh's testimony and key declassified CIA and FBI documents implicating Posada in the bombing of Cubana flight 455 in October 1976 that he will analyze will be posted tomorrow on the Archive's website: http://www.nsarchive.org . The Web site contains multiple postings of declassified records relating to Posada and the airplane bombing, as well as his career in the CIA, that provide useful background for coverage of the subcommittee hearing. http://www.nsarchive.org The text of the press release issued by Rep. Delahunt's office is reproduced below: _________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release: November 13, 2007 Further Information: Mark Forest - 202-225-3111/774-487-2534 DELAHUNT TO EXAMINE CASE OF LUIS POSADA CARRILES Cuban Exile Called the "Osama Bin Laden of the Western Hemisphere" Walks Free in Miami WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Bill Delahunt announced that the Foreign Affairs panel that he chairs, the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, will hold a hearing on Thursday, November 15, on the case of Luis Posada Carriles, an alleged Cuban exile terrorist currently living in Miami, FL. "It's important to examine the treatment he has received," said Delahunt, "because it goes to the heart of American credibility among the family of nations." The hearing, entitled "'Diplomatic Assurances' and Torture: A Case Study into Why Some are Accepted and Others Rejected," will seek clues from Posada's background as to why he--unlike other accused terrorists, many of whom have been kidnapped and sent to be tortured in other countries by the Bush Administration--has so far been able to escape an accounting for his alleged crimes. These include one of the most notorious terrorist attacks in the Western Hemisphere, the midair bombing of a civilian airliner in 1976 that resulted in the deaths of 73 civilians. Posada has been allowed to live comfortably in the United States, despite his long history of violence or the fact that he is a fugitive from justice in Venezuela and has been linked to terrorist plots in that country, Cuba, Panama, and elsewhere. "What is it about Posada that has spared him the treatment that other alleged terrorists have received?" asked Delahunt. "I'm not advocating that he be sent to be tortured. But why have so many others, some of whom are later found to be innocent, rendered on much flimsier evidence to a living hell, while Posada walks free? This stands is stark contrast to the case of Maher Ahar, which this Subcommittee examined several weeks ago. That's what our hearing will look into." The hearing will take place at 3:00 PM on November 15, 2007, in room 2237 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. Witnesses will include Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive; Ann Louise Bardach, an author who has tracked Posada's activities for over a decade; Roseanne Nenninger, the sister of one of the victims in the 1976 bombing; and Arturo Hernandez, Posada's attorney. -30- ________________________________________________________ THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals. _________________________________________________________ PRIVACY NOTICE The National Security Archive does not and will never share the names or e-mail addresses of its subscribers with any other organization. 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