By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA, Jul 22 1998 (IPS)

State entities and human rights organisations in Honduras reported Wednesday they will seek a new asylum country for former torturer, Fausto Reyes Caballero, who returned here Tuesday following deportation from Canada.

Reyes Caballero, the key witness in exposing the extrajudicial executions of the eighties in Honduras, made his untimely return to the nation following a fleeting visit to Costa Rica, leading activists to fear for his life.

The deportation of Reyes Caballero “took us by surprise and up to now we are not aware of the real reasons behind the Canadian government expelling him,” Leo Valladares of the State Human Rights Commission told IPS.

“They told us the deportation responded to a request from the government of Honduras, but no such request was made and that calls our attention. We are arranging asylum for the man we consider the ‘living archive’ of the disappearances in another country,” added Valladares.

Reyes Caballero lived in Toronto as a political refugee for more than eight years while undergoing the asylum process. Another two former military torturers have also been offered refuge in this country, where they testified to the Canadian authorities and members of the Honduran General Attorney’s office.

Head of the non governmental Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH), Ramon Custodio, said Reyes Caballero’s life “is endangered in this country.”

“If we do not get him out of here as soon as possible its a sure bet his former death squad companions will look for a chance to kill him,” he warned.

In 1988, Reyes Caballero, former member of the National Transport Department, provided CODEH with details of how the “military 3-16 death squad” – a group responsible for the disappearance of more than 184 people in the last decade – operated.

His testimony to human rights organisations and then to the General Attorney, identified those responsible for the disappearance and murder of the student and union leaders Miguel Angel Pavon, Alfredo Landaverde and Roger Gonzales.

He pinned the latter of these cases on present commander-in- chief of the armed forces, General Mario Raul Hung Pacheco, taken to court by CODEH five months ago on evidence provided by Reyes Caballero.

The officers deny the accusations, claiming this is all part of a massive smear campaign.

On his arrival at Tegucigalpa airport, Reyes Caballero was received by members of the Human Rights Commission, the General Attorney’s office and the Criminal Investigation Department (DIC), the civil techno-judicial police.

His arrival just happens to have coincided with the trials of several military officers accused of involvement in the human rights violations of the past decade, putting the human rights groups on alert, concerned for his safety.

Members of the army intelligence corps were openly seen in prominent positions around the airport, and the secret services followed the Reyes Caballero party to the DIC headquarters, where he is being given protection.

In his first declarations, the former military torturers said he would not recant his evidence.

Speaking in dry tones, Reyes Caballero said even though he did not fear for his life in Honduras, he would like to “get asylum in another country.”

“What I said to the human rights groups is true, and I have an easy conscience,” he added.

This Tuesday, when Reyes Caballero’s imminent arrival became public knowledge, the Human Rights Commission said he would be transferred directly to Costa Rica, where he would seek asylum, but the government of that nation turned down the application.

The former torturer actually got as far as the Costa Rican capital, but the authorities here prevented him from meeting with members of the Human Rights department and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said Valladares.

“We find the Costa Rican position strange, as arrangements had been made for Fausto Reyes Caballero to remain temporarily in San Jose. We have not been informed of the motives for this last- minute change,” he said.

Meanwhile, Costa Rica claimed Reyes Caballero had arrived in the country “in transit” and they were therefore not obliged to receive him as his final destination was Honduras, according to stories in the press Wednesday.

Now Reyes Caballero will have to look for another bolt-hole, and the list of possibilities starts with Mexico, followed by various European nations, said activists.

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