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Human Rights Developments Defending Human Rights The Role of the International Community Ending a silence that had been seen by human rights groups as tacit U.S. support for Perus abusive SIN, the head of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, publicly distanced U.S. anti-narcotics efforts from Vladimiro Montesinos, the SINs reputed de facto leader. Montesinos was widely believed to have had long-term links with the Central Intelligence Agency.McCaffrey took the initiative after the Panorama news program, aired on Perus Channel 5 television station, showed a video on May 10 depicting Montesinos and other senior Peruvian authorities in a meeting with U.S. officials, including McCaffrey. The footage included a speech by Montesinos and handshakes between him and U.S. officials before and after the meeting. McCaffrey subsequently called a press conference to say that Montesinos had caused him offense by manipulating his visit and doctoring the videotape to clean up his image. McCaffrey also said that he shared many of the concerns of human rights groups about Montesinos. This forceful intervention would make it more difficult in the future for Montesinos to gain status from his association with high-ranking U.S. anti-narcotics officials. However, McCaffreys statements did not clarify the extent of the United States dealings with the SIN. Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador in Lima, Dennis Jett, continued to speak out in support of human rights. He made several public statements in support of freedom of expression, criticized the congressional decision on the Fujimori referendum, and expressed concern about human rights when questioned about the anti-crime measures. When the harassment of journalists was at its height, he made a well-publicized visit to the office of La República, a gesture of moral support. In October 1998, Jett told reporters that the work of nongovernmental human rights groups was necessary when there are institutions that are losing credibility day by day. It was announced on the same day that the Agency for International Development (AID) had pledged U.S.$750,000 to support the work of the Peoples Defender (Defensor del Pueblo), a government human rights agency. AID also announced it would support nongovernmental human rights monitors, including the Coordinadora and the Institute for Legal Defense. World Bank
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