wfn.org | NCC to Bring Three Relatives of Disappeared Persons in

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

Uruguay to U.S.
The National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Internet: wendym@ncccusa.org

Contact: WASHINGTON, D.C. - Laurie Freeman, WOLA, 202-544-
8045
  NEW YORK CITY   -   Wendy McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

NCC3/6/98                                                 FOR 
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC TO BRING THREE RELATIVES OF DISAPPEARED PERSONS IN 
URUGUAY TO U.S.

NOTE: Media opportunities include - WASHINGTON, D.C.: NCC 
Latin America Working Group meeting, Mar. 10, 1 p.m. at 100 
Maryland Ave., NE, Conference Room 3;  NEW YORK CITY: Open 
brown bag lunch, March 12, 12-1 p.m. at the Interchurch 
Center, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 603.  Additional interviews 
can be scheduled through the Washington Office on Latin 
America (WOLA) and National Council of Churches (NCC) 
contacts above.

 NEW YORK, Mar. 6 --- Fifteen to twenty-five years after 
their loved ones were disappeared by the military regimes in 
Uruguay and Argentina, more than 150 families still do not 
know their relatives' fate.

Three relatives of the Uruguayan disappeared will bring 
their stories and their struggle for truth to the United 
States faith and human rights communities in Washington, 
D.C., and New York City March 9-13, sponsored by the NCC.  
Ms. Hortencia Pereira, Ms. Sabina Arigon and Mr. Javier 
Miranda have been pressing the cases of the disappearances of 
their relatives and others for several years through their 
own government and through international human rights 
channels.  Ms. Pereira is the wife of a disappeared person, 
Ms. Arigon is a daughter and Mr. Miranda is a son and the 
lawyer in the relatives' case before the Inter-American 
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Altogether, 156 Uruguayans were disappeared, some in 
Argentina and others in Uruguay during the military regime's 
1973 to 1985 reign.  Thus far, the Government of Uruguay has 
not offered an explanation about the fate of the relatives 
and, in December 1997, issued a document stating that it 
considered the matter closed.  The relatives hope to continue 
bringing international pressure to bear on their government.

The families wish to find out the truth about what 
really happened to their relatives, identify their remains 
and arrange for their proper burial.  The fact that Uruguayan 
law requires that a person who disappears cannot be declared 
legally dead for 30 years has created additional hardship 
beause the property of the disappeared cannot be claimed.  
Several churches, ecumenical organizations and 
representatives of the Jewish community have supported the 
view that the truth surrounding these disappearances should 
be known.

 "The delegation will meet with human rights 
organizations, State Department representatives, the 
Congressional Human Rights Caucus, United Nations staff, and 
church leaders in Washington, D.C. and New York City to put 
this issue on the table," said the Rev. Oscar Bolioli, 
Director of the NCC's Latin America and the Caribbean Office.  
"We are purposefully targeting Uruguay because the number of 
cases there is proportionally small as compared to other 
countries in the region.  If we can succeed in bringing 
international pressure to bear in Uruguay, then we can work 
on Argentina, where 30,000 people were disappeared, and in 
Chile, where 12,000 people were disappeared.

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