U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 65278 CC 2000
THE CUBAN PROGRAM: TORTURE OF AMERICAN
PRISONERS BY CUBAN AGENTS
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1999
Serial No. 106118
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
(II)
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman
WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois
MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois
CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
MARSHALL ŚŚMARKąą SANFORD, South Carolina
PAT DANNER, Missouri
MATT SALMON, Arizona
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama
TOM CAMPBELL, California
JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York
BRAD SHERMAN, California
KEVIN BRADY, Texas
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio
GEORGE RADANOVICH, California
STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey
JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
JIM DAVIS, Florida
SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut
TOM LANTOS, California
EARL POMEROY, North Dakota
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania
RICHARD J. GARON, Chief of Staff
KATHLEEN BERTELSEN MOAZED, Democratic Chief of Staff
CALEB C. MCCARRY, Senior Professional Staff
Member and Counsel
MARILYN C. OWEN, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S - WITNESSES - Page
Colonel Jack W. Bomar, United States Air Force, Retired 7
Andres F. Garcia, Vice President, Cuban American Veterans Association 16
Captain Raymond Vohden, United States Navy, Retired 10
Michael D. Benge, civilian Economic Development Officer and Prisoner of War Historian 13
Robert L. Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense,
Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Affairs, Department of Defense 28
Robert J. Destatte, Chief Analyst, Research and Analysis Directorate,
Defence Prisoner of War and Missing in Action Office, Department of Defense 30
The Honorable Mark Foley, a Representative in Congress from the Stateof Florida 19
APPENDIX
Prepared statements:
The Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, a Representative in Congress from
New York and Chairman, Committee on International Relations 50
The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a Representative in Congress from Florida 51
Colonel Jack W. Bomar 54
Col. Jack W. Bomar supplement: A definitive history of American Prisoner-of-War
Experience in Vietnam, 19641973, entitled ŚŚP.O.W.ąą by John G. Hubbell 58
Andres F. Garcia 95
Raymond Vohden 107
Michael D. Benge 114
Michael D. Benge supplementary research on
ŚŚCuban War Crimes Against American POWąs During the Vietnam Warąą 121
Robert L. Jones 140
Robert J. Destatte 143
Additional material submitted for the record:
Letter to Honorable Lewis J. Freeh, Director, FBI, dated
September 24,1999, from the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 148
Letter to Honorable Doris Meissner, Commissioner, U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service, dated October 6, 1999, from the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 149
Letter to Honorable Douglas B. Peterson, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam,
dated October 6, 1999, from the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 151
Letter to Honorable William J. Clinton, President, dated October 26, 1999,
from David Monson, President of Paralyzed Veterans Association of Florida, Inc 153
Letter to Honorable Lewis Freeh, Director, FBI, dated November 1, 1999 from Benjamin A. Gilman 154
Letter to Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen dated November 4, 1999, from Pete Peterson,
Ambassador, Embassy of the United States, Hanoi 156
Letter to Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman dated November 22, 1999, from
Robert L. Jones, with attachment concerning Aircraft Losses 157
Letter to Honorable Robert L. Jones dated December 15, 1999, from Benjamin A. Gilman 159
Letter to Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman dated January 10, 2000 from Robert L. Jones 160
THE CUBAN PROGRAM: TORTURE OF AMERICAN PRISONERS BY CUBAN AGENTS
Thursday, November 4, 1999 House of Representatives,
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman (Chairman of the Committee) Presiding. Chairman GILMAN. The Committee will come to order. Members please take their seats.
Between July 1967 and August 1968 a team of interrogators, believed to be Cubans, brutally beat and tortured 19 American airmen, killing one in the prisoner of war camp known as "The Zoo." I want to thank Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, our distinguished Chairman of our Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade for her leadership in pursuing this issue.
I served on the Select Committee that initially investigated the fate of American prisoners of war and those missing in action, and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. This morning, we will hear testimony from two distinguished panels.
On our first panel, we are honored to have three former prisoners of war, including two who were subjected to the so-called "Cuban Program": Captain Raymond Vohden, who later served with the Defense Department's POW-Missing Personnel office, and Air Force Colonel Jack Bomar, of Arizona. Our other witnesses include Michael Benge, a foreign service officer who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 5 years; and Andres Garcia, the Vice President of the Cuban American Veterans Association.
On our second panel, we will be joined by Robert Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Prisoner of War and Missing Personnel Affairs; and Robert Destatte of the Defense Depart-mentąs Prisoner of War-Missing Personnel office.
Recent press reports have revived interest in this terrible chapter of the Vietnam War and raised hopes that those responsible for those crimes can be identified. In that regard, we have written to FBI Director Louis Freeh to ask the Bureau for its assistance in pursuing information in the files of former Soviet Bloc countries regarding the Cuban program.
Those who murdered or tortured our American servicemen are still at large somewhere, possibly in Cuba. There is no statute of limitations on the crimes committed against these American servicemen. Neither shall there be a statute of limitations on our commitment to discovering the true identity of those responsible for such crimes, so that they may be brought to justice. Our Nation owes this to the courageous men and women who served us so loyally in Vietnam.
Before we begin with our first panel, let me ask our Ranking Member, Congressman-Judge Hastings, if he would like to make any opening remarks.
Mr. HASTINGS. In the interest of time I will ask that any comment that I make be inserted in the record. I would like to thank Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for her leadership in this effort. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman GILMAN. Dr. Cooksey has asked to be recognized.
Mr. COOKSEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My request, Mr. Chairman is that we minimize opening statements as much as possible. I am particularly interested in this issue. I want the facts out. I would like to have the maximum amount of time with these witnesses. Due to a counter-request, I am not going to demand that we have a total limit of time. But I hope we can get to the witnesses.
Chairman GILMAN. We will get to the witnesses as quickly as possible. I would like to recognize the distinguished Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, the gentle lady from Florida.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much. I would like to thank you, Chairman Gilman, for convening this hearing and for your leadership and commitment. This issue is particularly important to me for various reasons; but most importantly, as I read through the accounts of what our men and women in uniform have endured throughout this century of war, I think of my husband, Dexter Lehtinen, who served in the Special Forces in Vietnam and was injured in combat‹he was relatively fortunate, but so many were not.
I look at our POW's who are here today, many in our audience especially, and I am humbled by their sacrifices and honored to know them. I thank them for sharing their stories with us. I know that it is difficult, but their presence is indicative of their caliber as human beings and as citizens in the service of our country. The Geneva Convention prohibits "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture and outrages upon personal dignity and particular humiliating and degrading treatment." This is exactly what took place at a prison camp in North Vietnam known as "The Zoo," seen there in a declassified aerial photograph during the period of August 1967 to August 1968, where 19 of our courageous servicemen were psychologically tortured, some brutally beaten by interrogators assessed to be Cuban agents working under orders from Hanoi.
Described by some to be a psychological experiment, the goals of the "Cuba Program," as the torture project has been labeled by our Defense Department and our intelligence agencies, has been described in different ways as an attempt to test interrogation methods, to obtain absolute compliance and submission to captor demands, and ultimately to be used as propaganda by the international Communist effort, as Mike Benge will elaborate upon during today's session.
Some POWąs were tortured and then instructed to copy a series of questions and answers given to them by their interrogators. These excerpts on most occasions included statements declaring that the United States was waging an illegal, immoral, and unjust war.
Prisoners were tortured-again, some psychologically, others physically-to ensure cooperation in appearances they were forced to make before visiting delegations. Refusal to comply with the captor's demands usually meant that "Fidel," "Chico," and "Pancho"- as the torturers were called by our POW's-would be called in for more intense beatings of the prisoners.
In a chapter of "P.O.W.," a book published by Reader's Digest Press in 1976, Colonel Bomar describes different incidents where attempts were made to break the prisoners so they would recite the Communist Vietnam script before visiting groups. One of these occurred on July 3, 1968, when the camp medic entered the cell of Air Force Major James Kasler to bandage his draining leg. Having defied the camp commander the day before, telling him he would not tow the line before a delegation which as to visit "The Zoo," Kasler knew that this visit meant that it was done, as he says, prior to torture to keep the blood and the pus from staining the interrogation room.
Within an hour he was in torture. Enter "Fidel." "Fidel" reached down, grabbed Jim by the neck of his shirt, and shook him like a rag doll. "Fidel" seemed beside himself with rage. Then he slammed the heel of his boot down in the center of Kasler's chest. Jim gasped, fought for air.
Kasler would not cooperate, and after a while, "Fidel" shifted psychological gears, offering a drink of water, a cigarette, turning a small table fan on Kasler. Unable to get him to surrender, "Fidel" administered another beating, and another and another. Jim's thumbs were wired together describes Bomar, ropes were tied around his elbows. The flogging went on and on. After 36 lashes Kasler's lower back and legs hung in shreds. This skin had been entirely whipped away and the area was a bluish, purplish, greenish , mass of bloody raw meat.
Unable to get Kasler to surrender, "Fidel" promised to return the next day for more.
The ruthless nature of the interrogators and the severity of their actions led prisoners such as Captain Raymond Vohden and Colonel Jack Bomar, as well as Lieutenant Carpenter, who is in the audience today, to question how human beings could so batter another human being. They stood firm in the face of unrestrained brutality, intimidation, and humiliation 30 years ago. They are demonstrating their courage here again today by working with us to ensure that the sacrifices made in defense of freedom and democracy are not forgotten; to ensure that the life and death of one of their fellow POW's and victims of the "Cuba Program," Air Force pilot Earl Cobeil, who is pictured in one of the posters there, is not ignored; to ensure that justice is indeed served.
Captain Vohden and Colonel Bomar will offer compelling and detailed testimony describing the actions committed against them by Cuban agents at "The Zoo," acts which are in direct violation of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War. To violate the provisions enshrined in this document runs against the grain of civilized society and undermines the integrity of our international community as a whole. Humanity is one; when one suffers, we all suffer. Violations of this protocol are not just crimes against one individual, but against all of humanity.
That is the message that one of our witnesses, Andres Garcia, of my congressional district, a Vietnam veteran and the Vice President of the Cuban American Veterans Association, will underscore today.
Survivors of the "Cuba Program" have been eager to identify and trace the Cuba agents who systematically interrogated them and tortured their fellow Americans. Yet despite their efforts, a successful resolution of this matter has not been achieved. This hearing is the first of many steps aimed at changing that outcome. We hope to accomplish three goals today. The first is to get leads that could take us closer to an identification of the Cuban torturers. Could "Fidel" be Fernando Vecino Alegret, or is he Luis Perez Jaen, as a 1974 CIA report alleged? Is "Chico" a man by the name of Veiga, as our intelligence agencies suggested in this same document? Is Gustavo Robreno Dolz the man our POW's called "Pancho?" The answer to these should be our first priority. Our second goal is to provide the basis for an ensuing interagency investigation of new evidence, including a search of pertinent data and sources previously unavailable under Cold War parameters. We are fully cognizant of the mission of DOD's Office of POW/Missing Personnel who will be testifying today, and while they are most familiar with the "Cuba Program," they have completed their mission successfully by accounting for and bringing back all 20 of our servicemen who were part of the "Cuba Program." We want the State Department, CIA, FBI, INS, and the Defense Intelligence Agency to coordinate the comprehensive approach to this case.
Last, this hearing will begin to establish the foundation for future action against the torturers.
On a broader scale, this investigation will serve to highlight the brutal nature of the Castro regime and the historic and ongoing threat it poses to the American people. Ultimately, our hope is that this hearing will serve to honor those POW's who were willing to give life and limb so that we may all be free.
Mr. Chairman, as part of our preliminary investigation on this issue, I requested information from INS, FBI, and the Vietnamese Government through our embassy in Hanoi. I ask that these letters be included in the record of today's proceedings.
Chairman GILMAN. Without objection.
Mr. ROS-LEHTINEN. Just this morning I received a letter from Ambassador Peterson in Hanoi which I would like also to be included in the record.
Chairman GILMAN. Without objection. [The letters appears in the appendix.]
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. In the letter he states, "I have personally presented your request to the appropriate Vietnamese officials." He further states that, "Given my personal experience, I share and deeply appreciate your abhorrence for the inhumane treatment of POWąs by any country." Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Chair lady Ros-Lehtinen. [The prepared statement of Ms. Ros-Lehtinen appears in the ap-pendix.]
Chairman GILMAN. Mr. Menendez.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me, at the outset, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving your attention to this issue in the crowded agenda of the Committee's schedule and for agreeing to hold a hearing before the Committee.
Let me also recognize the leadership of my colleague from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for pursuing what others would clearly want to have be a closed door on a sad chapter in our relationships. Let me salute all of those whose testimony today will relive some painful memories, but whom we appreciate in our effort to ultimately get to the truth.
While it has been more than 30 years since the "Cuba Program" ended for the 19 American POW's who suffered the daily beatings and interrogations of their Cuban torturers, the "Cuba Program" remains for them a vivid memory, and for some, an everyday nightmare. Today, we are here to announce that the search for "Fidel," "Chico," and "Pancho" Garcia is not over. The atrocities committed by these Cuban agents constitute clear violations of the Geneva Convention, which has no statute of limitations. It is our intent to reinvigorate the investigation, uncover the identities of these men and bring them to trial for their crimes.
I have read the information provided by the Department of Defense, which provides detailed accounts of the Cuban program. Un-fortunately, the Department has been unable to definitively identify the Cuban perpetrators, but I believe our search does not end here. The clues we need to positively identify the three Cuban torturers may very well lie in the further review and declassification of documents from that time period, which I will join my colleague in pursuing.
We have encouraged the Department to renew its effort so that we can find these men before it is too late to bring them to trial or too late for their victims to see them brought to justice. We should also fully investigate Fernando Vecino Alegret, the man identified by retired Air Force Colonel Ed Hubbard as "Fidel." It seems quite feasible that the man who has claimed to be Cuba's Minister of Higher Education for more than 20 years was part of the "Cuba Program." Alegret's contention that he doesn't, "have the face of a torturer" is hardly a satisfactory response. The allegation against Vecino Alegret is not a recent one. A Washington Post article of March 5, 1981, indicates that not only did he take part in the "Cuba Program," but that he was one of the most-watched people in Latin America by U.S. Intelligence services. He has been linked to Cuba's Cold War activities in Central America and Africa and served as Cuba's military attache to Vietnam during the time of the "Cuba Program." Now, personally, I can't tell you that he is "Fidel," but certainly his past should tell us that he is not above scrutiny. As former Chilean Dictator Pinochet has discovered, the passage of years has increased, not decreased, the likelihood of prosecution in cases involving violations of international law.
I welcome that reality. I would hate to think that in the world we would send the message that those who think that through the passage of time they can escape the violations of international law and the consequences that one should receive for those violations. That would send a very wrong message.
Castro's tyranny continues today in Cuba, not against American POW's, but against his own people. Pinochet's trial sends a message to all individuals who violate human rights that they, too, can and will be held accountable for their crimes.
I look forward to the testimony. I will be going back and forth, Mr. Chairman. I have a hearing across the hall, unfortunately, at the same time. But I have read the testimony that has been submitted to the Committee. I think it is rather compelling and gives us a strong foundation to move forward in the future, and I thank you.
Chairman GILMAN. We will now proceed with the statement of Mr. Rohrabacher.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. I will be very quick, because I know Mr. Cooksey wants to get right to the testimony, and so I do. Let me just say that Ileana has done a terrific job here. We all owe her a debt of gratitude. It is about time we set the record straight about Fidel Castro; and there are just so many misconceptions and so many false images created about this monster. I mean, Fidel Castro is portrayed by so many on the left as being some nationalist just opposed to American domination, but you take a look at the picture a little closer and you are going to find that that man is a ghoul.
He is a criminal, he is the worst type of gangster and ran a gangster regime for all these years in Cuba. He was, from the very beginning, a fanatic Communist who put his own people, thousands of them, in harm's way throughout the world, as cannon fodder for the Communist movement in Africa; and he sent his people-he hated the United States so much that he sent his people over to torture Americans in Vietnam. We need to know these facts. I am very pleased that you are here with us today to alert the American people about Fidel Castro-that his past crimes shouldn't be just sloughed off and taken lightly. This man is as evil a war criminal and is as committed to crimes against humanity as have ever been committed in this century. We need to remember that and make sure we put it on the record. So thank you for helping set the record straight and being with us today.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Rohrabacher. We will now proceed with testimony from our witnesses. Chairman GILMAN. United States Air Force Colonel Jack Bomar was born in Michigan in 1926. After refusing a transplant to correct a kidney disorder, Colonel Bomar was grounded, but was later granted a waiver at his request and assigned to the 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in Thailand. Colonel Bomar was shot down over North Vietnam on February 4, 1967. During his captivity, Colonel Bomar was tortured by the Cuban known as "Fidel." Colonel Bomar retired from the Air Force in 1974. Colonel Bomar, you may proceed with your testimony. We will put your full statement in the record and you may summarize, whichever you deem appropriate.
STATEMENT OF COLONEL JACK BOMAR, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, RETIRED
Mr. BOMAR. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee. My testimony is a summary of a lengthier, more detailed statement.
Chairman GILMAN. Do you want to put the full statement in the record at this time?
Mr. BOMAR. I ask that it be included in its entirety in the record.
Chairman GILMAN. Without objection. Please proceed.
Mr. BOMAR. Good morning. My name is Jack Bomar, retired Air Force Colonel. I am a graduate of the "Fidel" Program, Class of 1968. I wish to thank the Members of this panel for their interest in uncovering the truth about a subject that has been buried for 31 years-especially you, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida. When I was shot down in 1967, we were flying an ECM aircraft out of Takhli, Thailand. It is kind of amazing that a SAM suppression aircraft can get knocked down by a SAM. But that is what happened. There were six of us on the aircraft; three of us survived. One was captured by the Chinese and turned over to the North Vietnamese. I went through the initial torture of peasants on the ground trying to spear me with spears as I came toward the ground. I kicked one of them aside and in doing that, I think I ruptured a disc in my back, and broke an ankle. I got a big chunk of shrapnel through my left leg before bailing out. So when I arrived in North Vietnam, I was not in the mood for games. I was tired, I just wanted a drink of water and to be allowed to lay down. The peasants tortured me all day.
Finally I got into Hanoi that night, and went into some real torture by the North Vietnamese.
They didnąt need our "Fidel" to teach them how to torture people. The Vietnamese were experts at this. I went through what we call the "Rope Trick." Your arms are tied behind your back, wrists in manacles and the pressure is slowly applied to the upper arms with straps. Eventually I was hung from a hook because I would not reveal the names of my crew.
Finally after three days with no food or water, constant interrogation, the camp commander was suddenly there, then gone. The torture guy-we call him "Straps and Bars"-applied the pressure again. Finally, they showed me a list of my crew members, so they had been working on one of the other three of us pretty harshly. I was sent to "The Zoo" and put in a camp where I met a delegation from the United States. There were three men in this delegation. One was a doctor, I think from France, one was a lawyer from Denmark or someplace, and the other was an anti war type from Berkeley, California, named Neilands, a professor from Berkeley. He and I immediately hit it off by him sticking out his hand-I was on crutches, had bandages from here to here to cover up all the wounds on my hands. I asked him, "What the hell are you doing in North Vietnam?" He said, "Dean Rusk, the son of a bitch, will not tell me where I can go and when I can be there." So my purpose, primarily, was to get a letter to my family, which got my name out in public. We felt that if you were known to be a POW, your survival chances were much greater than those that were not known.
After that interrogation, I was tortured several more times by the Vietnamese and thrown into solitary. I was in solitary confinement in June. After the delegation visit, there was no more treatment for the hole in my leg. I dug the shrapnel out with my fingers. I was on crutches when I saw the delegation; but now the crutches were long gone. Because of my attitude at the delegation, I was stashed in solitary.
Suddenly they came in and wanted me to meet "several of my countrymen". I think they said, "When you go to Quiz at night, it is a pretty scary thing; you are not sure what is coming." I wasn't sure when I walked in the room with Dum Dum and there were two Caucasians sitting at this table, and the one in the center was quite tall, spoke good English, had a Latin accent, offered me a cigarette, ,which I refused; and then I took it after a few words of encouragement from him. On his side was another gentleman-smaller, lighter hair, I believe-and they said, "Where do you think we are from?" I said "I think you are from Romania." It was obvious that they were Latin Americans. He said he was there to help me with my defense. I was to be tried by the war crimes tribunal, the Bertrand Russell Tribunal for War Crimes against the Vietnamese people, and he would work on my defense for me. Then he sent me back to the room.
I didn't know what to make of these two guys, but they weren't the normal delegation like the one I had just seen. They were a little scarier; they were a little more intense. They were sitting with the camp commander to his right, which is a position of authority. I was called back a couple of days later after he told me now we must fill out a sheet of paper and you will describe your aircraft, 20 pages written there. I left it lying on my bunk. Being in solitary, I had a bunk there, a platform of boards, and I left it blank. Finally, at the last minute, I scratched in a crude sketch of the aircraft. This is a wing, this is a window, this is a door-this is the top, this is the bottom, pure nonsense. The next day I gathered up my stuff, and I met with two other POW's. Ray Vohden was one of them, on crutches. He was badly hurt; he had also met "Fidel." The other one was a gentleman named Dave Duart; I think he was an Air Force captain flying a 105. There we sat in this room looking at each other, wondering, what is going on here. Ray Vohden made the-I will not repeat the statement he made, but it was, I think, that we are in deep you-know-what. and we were.
We were in that position maybe three or four weeks. We would go to Quiz, he would threaten us; "Fidel" would threaten us. His entire program to me, I felt was, you will surrender. He didn't say surrender to what, he didn't say what he wanted you to do, he said surrender. I think he was running a surrender program up there and could get maybe 10 or 15 POW's to surrender to anything that came up. That's a bad position to be in.
I was badly tortured by him when I refused to surrender, or as he said, choose the match box or choose the cigarette case. The match box I chose and went through the straps again. It was just as bad the second time with the manacles that tore up my hands. I was just off crutches, I didnąt walk that well right then. So he got my attention after a guard came running toward me and grabbed me by the throat and tried to crush my windpipe. That got my attention.
So I nodded, "I surrender." There was some histrionics of knocking me around the room, and I was sent back to solitary confinement with some leg irons. We were finally joined in a large group, either nine or ten POW's, and some of them are right here. Jim Kasler was not in our group, as such. I felt that we were being held in limbo there. He would threaten us. He would send us to Quiz. We would go back there, back and forth. He sounded like a Cuban revolutionary to me-Che Guevara. I made a big mistake one day; when Che Guevara died, I said something like "Good riddance"-really a bright statement at the time-and that got me in real big trouble, as if I could get in any more.
We were joined eventually by a fellow prisoner, Earl Cobeil. Cobeil was a complete physical disaster when we saw him. He had been tortured for days and days and days. I went down to clean him up. When "Fidel" dragged us down there, he said, Clean him up; and if anything happens to this man you, Bomar, are responsible.Then he hit him right in the face, knocked him down again. His hands were almost severed from the manacles. He had bamboo in his shins. All kinds of welts up and down all over; his face was bloody. He was a complete mess. They brought him into the room and as far as we could tell, Captain Cobeil was totally mentally out of it. He did not know where he was. I donąt think he knew where he had been or where he was going. He was just there. ,"Fidel" began to beat him with a fan belt. I call it a fan belt but it wasnąt really a fan belt. I think it was the side of a Russian truck tire, a very, very painful experience to be hit by this length of fan belt. I saw Cobeil hit as many as 12 or 13 times directly in the face. He never blinked his eyes. He never opened his mouth. He just stood there.
We had him in our cell for I would say 8 months or so. He refused to eat. He refused to bow to the guards. You must understand when the door opened, the guards demanded you will bow, all criminals will bow. We were always a criminal in North Vietnam. We were never a POW. We were governed by the camp regu-lations, not the U.S. code of conduct for military personnel. We took care of Cobeil for about a year. We force-fed him by holding him down, putting a stick in his mouth, and pushing the food down his throat. In all that time he never recognized anything that was going on. Finally he was removed from the room for electrical shock treatments, and then finally was gone. I understand he died a couple of years later there at the Hanoi Hilton. I don't believe "Fidel" was in Hanoi just to torture American POW's. I think that events controlled him that he had no control over. I think the Tet Offensive of 1968 was involved. I think when Johnson halted the bombing in 1968, that involved what "Fidel" was doing up there. I believe a conference that was taking place in Hanoi-Havana in 1968 had something to do with "Fidel" being up there. I think we were being prepared for some selective release that would enhance the Vietnam image of lenient and humane treatment worldwide. We were almost waiting for something to trigger this release.
"Fidel" used torture not for direct propaganda or anti war statement as the Vietnamese did. He used torture to break us initially, and to control us and keep us right under his thumb so we would do what he wanted done. His brutal torture of Cobeil and Kasler was due mostly to his frustration and his inability to force his will on others.
When he lost his temper, he was a complete madman. He would get red in the face; he just exploded with rage. So if you refused to bow to him like Cobeil refused to do or if I refused to take the cigarette case instead of the deal, his temper just went out of control. The North Vietnamese knew exactly what "Fidel" was doing up there. They may tell you that he was there to teach English to the guards. I donąt think that had any part in it whatsoever. He was allowed to do to Cobeil, Kasler and others what was unjustifiable in any society, even a Communist society. Perhaps one day we will positively identify and locate this man. Thank you.
Chairman GILMAN. Thank you very much, Colonel Bomar. [The prepared statement of Colonel Bomar appears in the appendix.]
Chairman GILMAN. Our next witness is Captain Raymond Vohden. Captain Vohden was shot down over Vietnam. He was held as a prisoner of war from April, 1965 through February 12, 1973. During his captivity, he was tortured by the Cuban known as "Fidel." From 1975 to 1978, he served as a principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense on POW/MIA matters. Captain, you may put your full statement in the record or sum-marize, whichever you may deem appropriate. Please proceed.
Mr. CHABOT. Excuse me, Mr. Chairman. There is a vote on the floor.
Chairman GILMAN. We are going to continue. Mr. Rohrabacher has gone over; heąll come back and preside while we go over to vote. Please do it quickly if you are going over, because we have so many witnesses we want to hear.
Chairman GILMAN. Please proceed, Captain Vohden.
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN RAYMOND VOHDEN, UNITED STATES NAVY, RETIRED
Mr. VOHDEN. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, my testimony is a summary of a lengthier, more detailed statement. I ask that it be included in its entirety in the record.
Chairman GILMAN. Without objection. Mr. VOHDEN. In August 1964, I was assigned to Attack Squadron 216 as the operations officer flying in the A4C Skyhawk off the USS Hancock. Our carrier was in the South China Sea in early 1965 when the war against North Vietnam began to escalate.
On my fifth mission, I was shot down bombing a bridge in North Vietnam. I broke both bones above the ankle when I landed. I was then taken to the camp known as the Hanoi Hilton, where I was in complete solitary and was never moved off a wooden board for four months except to go to the hospital for two hours one night. For the next 2 1/2 years I was moved from camp to camp, until being sent to "The Zoo" in November 1965. In the early part of 1967, September 1967, I was looking forward to the end of the war and my homecoming, when one night I was taken to an interrogation. To my astonishment, the man sitting across from me was a Caucasian. One of the Vietnamese camp officers sat next to him. We talked about the war for the next half hour. He had an excellent command of English and appeared to be very knowledgeable about the U.S. and the war.
Several days later, I was moved to another room with Jack Bomar and another Air Force officer. They both had recently been shot down and had also talked to the Caucasian. One of us named him "Fidel" because we guessed he might be Cuban. Individually, we met with him daily. The war was essentially the main topic. One day I was taken to Quiz. "The Elf," one of the other Vietnamese officers, was there. The Elf asked me four or five times, what orders did I give. I said, none. He left and came back with six or seven guards who forced me onto floor, put manacles on my wrists behind me and strapped my elbows together behind me. After some time he finally gave me a clue what the order was, it was about throwing food away. I had ordered-I was an SRO in a building one time before, and I told the guys to throw away some food because some of the younger people didnąt get enough, so they thought it would be better if we didn't turn back food. Five minutes later, as they were taking the manacles and straps off, the door burst open. In comes "Fidel," ranting and raving like a madman, pointing his finger at me and telling me that I better have a good attitude now and do everything he says. He slapped me 10 or 15 times. I then had to write on a piece of notebook paper that I surrendered to the Vietnamese people and would do everything they wanted me to do. He told me other things to write and then told me to sign it and then eat it to prove I would do everything he told me to do. Eating paper is interesting.
I went back to the room with Bomar, but Bomar and Duart were gone. For the next two weeks, I was beaten 3 or 4 times a day until I became demoralized and depressed and started to lose my appetite. I finally gave up eating anything. After failing to eat several meals, "Fidel" came in yelling and screaming at me that I was trying to cheat him again and that he would kill me if I didn't eat. I had reached bottom. I didn't care if I lived or died. "Fidel" just stood there and watched. Without a word, he left. A week later, the tactic shifted; the treatment improved. "Fidel" responded if we didn't use what he gave us we would be very sorry. One by one, more POW's joined us; all had been forced to surrender. At Quiz, "Fidel" tried every argument in the book to convince us that the U.S. was wrong in its war of aggression. Every day he reminded us not to become reactionary or we would suffer. One morning in early 1968, one of the camp officers came to the outside of our room and disconnected the wires to our speaker.
Later that day we heard from guys in another building who had heard the radio program that the first three U.S. prisoners had been released by the Vietnamese. I felt very relieved and proud of myself and the others who served with me in the "Fidel" program because, although I canąt say for sure what the original purpose of Fidel's presence was, I believe, the way the program was run, that its purpose was to find someone who could be of value to the North Vietnamese if released. Some found it hard to believe that "Fidel" expected us to adopt the enemy views on the war and talk about good treatment after we were tortured and forced to surrender; but after getting to know "Fidel," I could see how this was his goal and how he believed it was possible.
After "Fidel" failed in having any of his group released, the "Cuba Program" continued without any real purpose or meaning. Two weeks later I moved to another room with Paul Schultz. I rarely saw "Fidel" again, except on one or two occasions. "Fidel" had been working with some other men and it appeared that one of them, Earl Cobeil, was resisting "Fidel" to the maximum. Of course, "Fidel" was retaliating. Several days after I was moved, Earl Cobeil was moved in with Don Waltman into the room next to mine. Waltman said Earl was all mixed up in his mind. On one occasion, one of the guards, Grimsey, came to the shower area and took us back to our room. "Fidel" was standing at the door. All three of us lined up. I had moved into this room with Waltman and Cobeil. We went to the shower, then we came back. So Waltman and I bowed, but Cobeil just stood there again. I said, "Hey, Cobeil, bow." Nothing happened. Suddenly Grimsey raised his leg and pushed his foot against Cobeiląs body, who went tumbling over toward the back of the room. "Fidel" yelled loudly at Cobeil to stop cheating him or he would teach him a lesson he would never forget. The door closed.
After having seen "Fidel" for almost every day for six months, I knew that "Fidel" was going to get his way. He was not going to let the Vietnamese see him fail in any endeavor. I was convinced that he would take a man to any length to get what he wanted. In addition, the difference between the Vietnamese and "Fidel" was that more or less once the Vietnamese got what they wanted they let up at least for awhile. Not so with "Fidel." There wasn't a day that went by that there weren't threats or warnings to all of us. I was in this room with Cobeil and Waltman now; and for the rest of the quiet hour, Waltman and I tried everything imaginable to get Cobeil to come down to earth, but we were unsuccessful. Shortly after the gong sounded ending the quiet hour, "Fidel" came to the door and told me to come outside. "Fidel" asked me if Cobeil was squared away. I told him that in my honest opinion, Cobeil was not at all rational; if he continued working Cobeil over, Cobeil would never make it. I was hopeful that he would believe me about Cobeil.
He accused me of trying to help Cobeil cheat him. The door was closed, locked, and bolted. I started to talk to Cobeil again for a few minutes, when all of a sudden, "Fidel" jumped up in the window, holding the bars, screaming in his loud voice, "I caught you, I caught you cheating me." Seconds later the door slammed open. "Fidel" screamed to me, get out, get out. A few minutes later "Fidel" returned with what looked like a fan belt of a car, but cut so it was like a whip. As "Fidel" passed by he looked at me with a glaze in his eyes of an enraged madman. "Fidel" went in after Cobeil with Grimsey and Cedric. I could hear the thud of the belt against Cobeil's body again and again as "Fidel" screamed. I guess Cobeil was hit around 20 or 30 times. It was hard to listen, as I did, to "Fidel" beating Cobeil, a frail, diminutive man, his wrists swollen three times the normal size, a vacant stare in his eyes already pushed by torture beyond the limit for which he might have a chance to regain his sanity. It had been far easier for me to endure the straps than to have to go through this.
The guards all stood around talking loudly, laughing and yelling in Vietnamese. When I saw "Fidel" with the fan belt, I was sur-prised, because up to that time I had never heard of anyone getting hit like that. As I stood there with my crutches, my heart and mind overflowed with emotion. It was the most sickening feeling to hear what was going on and know there was nothing I could do about it.
That was the last day I saw Cobeil. "Fidel" unmercifully beat a mentally defenseless, sick man to death. He, as well as the North Vietnamese Communists, must bear full responsibility for that and other acts.
There have been considerable efforts to locate "Fidel" in Cuba, but without success. I have often wondered what we would do if we found him. Try him as a war criminal? No mention was ever made to try the North Vietnamese leaders as criminals. Thus, I question whether trying to locate "Fidel" would be a wasted effort. Maybe this hearing and the interest shown by Congressman Gilman and Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen to investigate will mean some justice will be served. [The prepared statement of Captain Vohden appears in the appendix.]
Mr. COOKSEY. [Presiding.] Thank you, Captain, that was very moving testimony, and I appreciate your remarks.
Mr. Benge, you are going to be the next witness. I am sitting in because I am going to skip this vote. To me, your testimony is more important than voting on the Journal. You will notice, as long as I am here, there is no time limit. We have a lot of politicians that need a time limit, but you men are heroes and you can testify as long as you want.
STATEMENT OF MIKE BENGE, FORMER POW AND POW HISTORIAN
Mr. BENGE. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Madam Chair Lady, Members of the Committee, fellow former POW's, our Cuban friends and distinguished guests. My testimony is a summary of a lengthy, more detailed statement that I am presenting here today, and also of my research report and references on the "Cuba Program. " I ask that these be included in their entirety in the record.
Mr. COOKSEY. So ordered.
Mr. BENGE. My name is Michael Benge, and while serving as a civilian economic development officer in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, I was captured by the North Vietnamese during the Tet Offensive on January 28, 1968. I was held in numerous camps in South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam. I was a POW for over five years spent 27 months in solitary confinement, one year in a black box, and 1 year in a cage in Cambodia. I served for over 11 years in Vietnam. I was released during Operation Homecoming in 1973.
I am a board member of the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen, and I am a POW activist; that is, I am one who is actively seeking the truth regarding the fate of our prisoners of war and missing in action.
I was not tortured by the Cubans nor was I part of the "Cuba Program." There were 19 American POW's that I know of who were tortured by the Cubans in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. These brave men include Colonel Bomar, Captain Ray Vohden, and Commander Al Carpenter, who is in the audience. They named the torturers "Fidel," "Chico," and "Pancho." The torture took place in "The Zoo". It was run by a Vietnamese camp commander call "The Lump." He was called that because of the presence of a large fatty tumor in the middle of his forehead.
I was not tortured by the Cubans in Vietnam, but I was interrogated by The Lump and a person who appeared to be a Latino who spoke a few words of Spanish to The Lump during my interrogation in the early part of 1970. Upon my return to the U.S., I was shown a picture taken in Cuba of The Lump, which was taken with an American anti war group. Yes, it was the same one who had interrogated me in 1970.
I was told by a congressional investigator that he was the man who was in charge of funneling Soviet KGB money to the American anti war groups and activists, such as Jane Fonda. After researching ,my paper, this made more sense, for who would be better suited to liaison with the Cubans then The Lump? This was my first piece of the puzzle.
I decided to research the "Cuba Program" after repeated claims by the Administration, Senators John McCain and John Kerry, Ambassador Pete Peterson and members of the Department of Defense that the Vietnamese Government was cooperating fully in resolving the POW/MIA issue. This is far from the truth. If the Viet-namese Communists were fully cooperating, as purported, they would have told us the true fate of the 173 U.S. servicemen who are still missing, who were last known to be alive and in the hands of North Vietnamese Communists. They would have helped us resolve the fate of over 600 American servicemen who were lost in Laos, of which over 80 percent were lost in areas totally under the control of the North Vietnamese. If the Vietnamese were fully cooperating, we would not be here today, for they would have revealed the names of the Cubans-"Fidel", "Chico," and "Pancho"- who were responsible for the torture of 19 POW's, beating one so severely that it resulted in his death.
Upon their return to the U.S., the POW's were told by the U.S. Government not to talk about the "Cuba Program." Some of them resisted as they had resisted "Fidel", and they broke silence. Regardless, the "Cuba Program" was swept under the rug by the U.S. Government. I began researching the "Cuba Program" and had a draft paper in 1996 for presentation at the annual meeting of the National Alliance of Families.
After this, former Congressman Bob Dornan held hearings on it, and it forced the Department of Defense's Office for POW/MIA Affairs to do an analysis and a compilation which was submitted to Congress. I reassessed the information in the DPMO compilation and, nevertheless, from my reading the documents in this compilation, I found a profile. Regardless of what was testified, I read through these documents and I found the profile of a man that seemed to match almost perfectly the POW's description of the Cuban called "Chico." However, this profile also partially fit the POW's characterization of "Fidel." The profile was that of Major Fernando Vecino Alegret.
Last August 22nd, the Miami Herald published an article on the "Cuba Program," based partially on my report; however, it was misreported that I had identified a man named Raul Valdes Vivo as "Fidel." That was wrong. However, it produced out of the Cuban exile community a photograph and a report that indeed the man who was suspected to be "Fidel" was Alegret.
Alegret is now Cuba's Minister of Education, and Fidel Castro has issued a denial that Alegret was ever in Vietnam. However, there was evidence compiled by the DIA, documented and the report submitted to Congress, that he was in Vietnam.
Mr. Bob Destatte of the DPMO office made this report to Con-gress. However, he says that he was not responsible for the anal-ysis of the "Cuba Program;" and I find it very hard, after reading this evidence, which was very poorly analyzed, that the Administration, Department of Defense, the POW/Missing Personnel Office have mastered the art of obfuscation.
I grew up on a farm in the West, and I used to try to catch greased pigs at the county fair; and I can assure you that trying to pin down DPMO to truthful facts oftentimes is much more difficult than catching a greased pig.
Mr. Destatte testified to DPMO's conclusions that the "Cuba Program" was nothing more than a plan to provide instruction in basic English to the North Vietnamese army personnel working with American prison POW's. I have taught English to the Vietnamese, and I have been tortured by the Vietnamese, and I can tell the difference between the two. One might conclude from Mr. Destatte's testimony that neither he nor his associate, Mr. Tarabochia, knew the difference between torture and teaching English. I can also read English and understand what I read. From reading that report, it is very evident that the profile fits Alegret, and that perhaps they could take some English lessons from the Cubans. Mr. Destatte had the audacity to testify that the high command was unaware that the Cubans were torturing American POW's. I find this incomprehensible. I ask, how did Mr. Destatte reach this conclusion? He questioned a North Vietnamese colonel, Colonel Pham Teo, who told Destatte that he was in South Vietnam in 1967 and 1968 during the Cuban torture program. He knew nothing of the "Cuba Program;" however, he had heard rumors that it was an English language instruction program that had gone awry.
Mr. Destatte testified that the Vietnamese explanation is fully consistent with what we know about the conduct of the Cubans. I find this deplorable.
Mr. Destatte chose to believe a Vietnamese Communist colonel over American POW's who were tortured by the Cubans. I find this incomprehensible. What bewilders me, as it should you, is that Destatte's superiors at DPMO had the audacity to let him testify before Congress to this foolishness. This exemplifies the quality of DPMO's investigation and analysis of the "Cuba Program." My analysis, from what I read over and from what was very evident within the documentation provided by DPMO to Congress, was that it was a program to gain the complete submission of American POW's, and it was in preparation for an October 18 to 21, 1968, Communist International Second Symposium Against Yankee Genocide in Vietnam, held in Cuba. This symposium was in continuum of the Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunal, a kangaroo court and dog-and-pony show held in Denmark the previous year.
My research paper is based partially on what DPMO gave to Congress, as well as other documents I have obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. However, I just scratched the surface, but I have found enough documents to indicate that there should be a plethora of other documents related to the Cuban involvement in Vietnam if they were ever declassified, as two U.S. Presidents have decreed. I also recommend that this matter be thoroughly in-vestigated by professional investigators, not DPMO analysts. I shall end this up shortly.
The Cubans were very heavily involved in Vietnam. They maintained a whole section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where many American POW's were lost. I have also uncovered evidence of the possibility that American POWąs from the Vietnam War have been held in Los Maristas, a secret Cuban prison run by Castro's G-2 intelligence service. The Cubans who claimed to have seen them, later escaped, made it to the U.S. and were debriefed by the FBI. At the FBI, when I requested documents to be released, I got an answer of "Give me their birthdays."
My paper raises more questions than it answers, but only history will prove me right or wrong. However, I think I am on the right track. Only through full disclosure will we ever know the truth. I was brought up with old-fashioned values. My mother taught me at a young age that no matter how hard you search for the truth, you won't find it, no matter what, unless you really want to. I end up concluding with there remarks: ignorance, arrogance, disinterest, lack of caring, incompetence, obfuscation. I rest my case.
Mr. COOKSEY. Thank you, Mr. Benge. [The prepared statement of Mr. Benge appears in the appendix.]
Mr. COOKSEY. Mr. Garcia. I understand you are a Vietnam veteran, but not a POW; is that correct?
STATEMENT OF ANDRES F. GARCIA, VICE PRESIDENT, CUBAN AMERICAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION
Mr. GARCIA. I am a Vietnam veteran, sir, not a POW.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, my testimony is a summary of my lengthier statement, and I would like it to be included in the record in its entirety.
Mr. COOKSEY. Without objection.
Mr. GARCIA. I would also like to have in the record a letter from the Paralyzed Veterans Association of Florida supporting these hearings.
Mr. COOKSEY. Without objection, it will be part of the permanent record. [The information referred to appears in the appendix.]
Mr. GARCIA. Chairman Gilman, Members of the House International Relations Committee, ladies and gentlemen. It is a privilege to participate in these hearings.
Let me begin by thanking you and the Members of your Com-mittee for your efforts to learn what happened to our POW's during the Cuban Program, under which 20 Americans in Cu Loc, the POW camp in North Vietnam, were tortured by agents of Fidel Castro's government, resulting in the tragic death of one of our POW's. My most sincere gratitude to Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for her constant defense of veterans' rights and for her tireless efforts in uncovering the truth of the cruelty of Fidel Castro, not only against his own people, but also against the American people whom he hates with a passion, as demonstrated again and again by his actions throughout his life.
This time his involvement in atrocities committed against our servicemen cannot be left unpunished.
For the past 40 years Castro's Ministry of the Interior has utilized cruel methods of torture to break down those they consider enemies of the revolution. These same methods were used against 20 defenseless POWąs in North Vietnam. My voice today is not the voice of a single veteran, who proudly served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1968-1969 while I was still a Cuban refugee, but I am speaking for those Cuban-American men, like me, who do not have a voice today because they gave their lives fighting for freedom and justice with the U.S. Armed forces in Korea, Vietnam and Lebanon.
What a difference between the actions of these men and the actions of those monsters that tortured our POWąs.
I am also speaking on behalf of a highly decorated Cuban-born Marine who served two tours in Vietnam and was killed by the same terrorist state that tortured our POW's. His name is Armando Alejandre, Jr. On February 24, 1996, Castro's air force shot down two U.S. unarmed civilian aircraft, killing Armando, two U.S.-born youngsters of Cuban descent and a legal U.S. resident. Speaking on behalf of my organization, CAVA, we stand ready to work with any Federal agency that asks for our support in getting more information on the POW issue. With the communication we now have with dissidents on the island and a number of Castro's military residing in the U.S., it is possible for us to obtain much more information today than in past years.
We veterans will not allow this issue to fade away. We are committed to inform the American people of Castro's crimes again our servicemen, and we will mobilize the veterans at the national level if necessary. I am not only a member of CAVA but a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans of America, and I will seek their support.
Men in Congress, the press, some mayors, Governors and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believe we should be soft with Fidel Castro in order to change him. I propose that they ask Fidel Castro that, as a gesture of goodwill, he allow the alleged torturers to come to the United States to be questioned and to face their victims. If they have nothing to hide, Castro should cooperate.
The fact is that nothing has changed since 1967. Fidel Castro continues to be the worst enemy the U.S. ever had. He is a dagger pointing at the U.S. underbelly. Yes, he is capable-after having ordered the torture of POW's in Vietnam, he is capable of killing innocent children. He is capable of shooting down civilian unarmed airplanes carrying U.S. citizens. He is capable of using the drug trade to further undermine the U.S. and, yes, he is capable, willing, and able to perpetrate biological attack against the American people. He is capable, and he will continue to plan further attacks against the U.S. with impunity because he has always gotten away with anything he does.
The time to stand firm is now. We should create a task force comprised of intelligence agencies to conduct a thorough investigation of the crimes against the POW's. But more important, we should indict and prosecute those found guilty, including Fidel Castro, who has all the responsibility.
Every time we have taken a weak stand, we have lost. Look at the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, and Iran. When we have taken a stand from a position of strength, we have been victorious. Look at Grenada, Panama, Iraq, and Kosovo. We are the strongest power in the world and the world respects a leader.
The leaders of this great Nation must assume a very important responsibility. We pray to God that your actions will lead to America doing the just, the moral, the right thing, without giving up its political and commercial interest.
I do not want to close my testimony without trying to take care of a doubt you may have in your mind. Is this another reckless statement by a Cuban? I am a Cuban American. My parents sent me to this country when I was a teenager. I paid my dues in Vietnam; I am no longer a refugee, but a proud American citizen. My children were born here.
I love this country. I want nothing but the best for America. I am Cuban by birth and American by choice. I am very proud of both. Thank you for this opportunity you have given me today and God bless you all.
Mr. COOKSEY. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Garcia appears in the appendix.]
Mr. COOKSEY. I want to thank all of you for your testimony. It is very important. It is a story that needs to be out there. Americans need to hear it, the world needs to hear it, and your testimony has been good.
I will open the questioning first with Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this opportunity. I would like, before I ask the panelists my questions, to recognize Congressman Mark Foley, our colleague from Florida, who has been participating in the briefings that we have held and is very anxious for us to move this investigation. Congressman Foley.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. MARK FOLEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA
Mr. FOLEY. Let me thank my colleague for all of her leadership on this important issue. More appalling than the fact that Fernando Vecino Alegret is now a high-ranking Cuban official is the fact that he has been able to visit our country. Our country should not be open to thugs like him. This is why I introduced, with Gary Ackerman and Bob Franks and supported by my colleague, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act, H.R. 3058, which would make all war criminals and perpetrators of atrocities, such as torture, excludable from the United States of America.
I didn't become aware of this problem of war criminals entering the United States until I recently learned that a key member of the brutal military dictatorship that ruled Haiti from 1991 to 1994 is now living comfortably in my congressional district. In fact, more bizarre, he is a winner of over $3 million in the Florida lottery. Brutalized his countrymen, came to America under the auspices of the State Department, and then wins the lottery and lives in a guarded, gate community in Port St. Lucie, Florida, unlike those that he beat and brutally assassinated and murdered; they didn't have that luxury of travel to the United States.
Initially, I just assumed it was a bizarre and isolated episode.
However, once I began to look into the issue more, I realized how big a problem we have on our hands. According to the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco, at least 60 alleged human rights violators are currently residing in the United States. These are just the ones who have been identified as living here; that is not even counting those who have been able to visit the U.S. on visas.
In 1998, Canada began an aggressive campaign to locate and keep out human rights abusers who attempt to enter their country. As of July 1999, the Canadian Government indicated that 400 cases are being processed toward removal, 307 suspected war criminals have been denied visas, 23 were deported. That is a total of 700 war criminals that Canada has detected. I applaud Canada for their pursuit of these people. I think it is fair to say that based on Canada's figures and taking into account the much bigger population in the U.S. and other socioeconomic factors, we could have as many as 7,000 human rights abusers either living in or visiting the United States at any given time.
We owe it to our brave veterans and refugees who have fled persecution abroad that they should not have to come face to face with their former tormentors in the Land of the Free. Canada has been successful in tracking down modern war criminals, and so can we.
If I may ask Mr. Garcia a quick question. Obviously, we are aware of the visit in the past, in 1979. Are you aware of any other visits Mr. Alegret has made to the United States subsequently?
Mr. GARCIA. No, sir. I am not aware of it.
Mr. FOLEY. Thank you. I appreciate my colleague yielding the time, and I hope the Chairman will give her some additional time since I took up her whole five minutes.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, for allowing Mr. Foley to speak. I think that the reason the Administration is not fully behind your bill is that then they would not be able to allow one of the biggest war criminals in the world today, Fidel Castro, entry into the United States. But we certainly hope that that bill passes.
I would like to thank the panelists for excellent testimony. I want to ask you about the debriefing that has been going on and the information shared and how much you have been a part of that. News sources and other official and unofficial sources have referred to the existence of a CIA document published in the early 1970's which provides an assessment of who the Agency believes could be "Fidel" and "Chico."
Were you, or to the best of your knowledge, were any of your fellow survivors of the "Cuba Program" ever shown this report, and were you debriefed by the CIA and other intelligence agencies? Last in this set, what more could have been done by these entities, and do you believe that with their resources that they should have been able to more firmly identify these torturers? Colonel Bomar.
Colonel BOMAR. I was not aware of being shown a report by the FBI, or whoever it was who did this, no.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Captain Vohden.
Captain VOHDEN. There may have been that report, but it is a long time ago now. I may have been shown it, but I just don't recall.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. In the debriefing process, sketches were made of the torturers; however, those varied, differing degrees, from one to another. What physical characteristics stand out about "Fidel" that could facilitate an identification?
Some of your colleagues have identified this person Fernando Vecino Alegret as "Fidel," or the man in the photo that is going to be shown to you-his name is Luis Perez Jaen-fits the description of "Fidel." What personality traits would you attribute to "Fidel" and the others?
Colonel Bomar.
Colonel BOMAR. Jaen, I would not recognize this as "Fidel" at all, no. My comment was, "was it taken from 30,000 feet over Cuba?" However, this photograph is the same as that one. I was shown this, or sent this, by Colonel Hubbard, this picture. My reaction was, it could have been, or maybe it couldnąt have been. I wasnąt 100 percent sure that this picture-I think probably because, is he 20 years old here? This is a long time before we met him, and he matured a lot. However, there was another picture, Ray.
Captain VOHDEN. I don't know. Maybe that. That's all I have.
Colonel BOMAR. There was another one that he could very possibly have been. That was the closest that I have seen, but I donąt have it right here. I think she showed it to me earlier. Yes, this picture right here. This would have been as close as I have seen, right here. This man right here. That could be him, but I am not 100 percent sure.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. For the record, could you tell us who it is that you are talking about?
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. That would be Fernando. Colonel BOMAR. The man in the center in this photograph.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. That was given to us by people close to Fernando Vecino Alegret. These are photos taken in Cuba, family pho-tographs and social events that he attended. Colonel BOMAR. Very young in this picture.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. He is pointing to a photograph of a social oc-casion that took place in Cuba where he seems to share those char-acteristics. Now, getting back to my other question, unless Captain Vohden wants to weigh in on this‹‹
Captain VOHDEN. I donąt recognize this man as "Fidel" at all. The other pictures, in one picture here there is a shirt that he is wearing that is almost identical to the shirt that he wore when I first met him. I don't know what you call that shirt. Identifying features of "Fidel": First, he was exceptionally tall for a Cuban; he is probably 6'2", 6'2-1/2", or something like that, which I think is unusual. He also spoke excellent English and he was very knowledgeable about the United States. So that would indicate he would have to have spent some time here in the United States. I had an impression that he was kind of comparable to Li'l Abner sometimes. He was a big, husky, robust sort of a man. But so far as the pictures are concerned, they could be. This is probably as close as I have seen. I have seen the picture of Alegret when he was older, but that is not at all possible. But this here, it could be. That is all I know.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. After the initial debriefings, were you ever approached again about new information, new sketches, new photographs, on the torturers; and if so, by whom and what was the result of these followups?
Colonel BOMAR. No, I never was. We did some initial sketches then. That was the last I heard of it. It was over.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Is that true for you?
Captain VOHDEN. I saw sketches initially and there was a time, maybe eight or ten years ago, the FBI came to my house and asked if I would look at some pictures; and for about three days, I thumbed through photo albums and I never found a picture of "Fidel." Also, there was staff from a Senate Committee, a number of years back, who talked to me on a few occasions.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. When visiting delegations were allowed di-rectly into the camp, were you taken outside to meet them? Do you recall seeing any outsiders in the camp? By "outsiders," I mean Vi-etnamese officials or non-Vietnamese officials, not stationed at the camp and folks from other countries, journalists, any visits that we could use to locate the participants in an attempt to gain information about the torturers and who they were? How closed was "The Zoo" to others?
Colonel BOMAR. I believe I saw some Chinese in the camp. Obviously there were some Russians, but we never spoke with them. But other than one man that was working on some electrical box, the squawk box in our room-he was definitely a friend of "Fidel."
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Now you had said in your testimony that "Fidel" had had a position of authority in the camp based on where he was sitting, where he was standing. That would seem to indicate that the Vietnamese certainly knew who this individual and the others were. Do you believe that they could give us information to further clarify the identity?
Colonel BOMAR. I don't think there is any doubt in any mind that the North Vietnamese knew exactly who this was. He came to the camp in a staff car, a Russian car, driven by a Vietnamese officer. We had never seen that before. That is how he traveled. He did not live in this camp. He came from off-camp somewhere. He came quite often, and it was always in a staff car. The camp commander, "Lump," rode a bicycle. That was the best they got; going up, there was the bicycle. But he rode around in a chauffeured staff car, so he was not an ordinary visitor to the camp.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Just one last question, if I may. I know my time is up, Mr. Chairman. What more do you think can be done by our agencies to get to the identities of these three torturers?
Captain VOHDEN. One thing, just for starters, they should try to get a picture of this Alegret now, or try to get something from 1968 somewhere around that period of time. That would be very helpful to really identify and nail him.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Colonel?
Colonel BOMAR. I would give Ambassador Pete Peterson a call and say, hey, ask the Vietnamese who this guy is, who he was. Maybe we will turn the aide back on if you tell us. I would put pressure on our Ambassador up there to put pressure on the Vietnamese, and I think Peterson could do that.
CONTINUED - PART II