Battalion 3-16 (Honduras)

According to the human rights NGO COFADEH, Battalion 3–16 was created in 1979 with the name "Group of 14". In 1982, its name was changed to the "Special Investigations Branch (DIES)", commanded by "Señor Diez" (Mr. Ten).) more than 150 Argentine officers were in Honduras. A former prisoner of the 3-16, Ines Murillo, claimed in an interview that during her captivity she had often been tortured in the presence of the CIA adviser, "Mr. Mike", and that he at one time submitted questions to ask her. In June 1988, CIA deputy director for operations Richard Stolz, testified that a CIA official had visited the prison where Murillo was being held. She also accused New York Times reporter James LeMoyne of distortions and falsehoods in the reporting of her interview. She stated that his reporting had "caused great damage" and "could be used to justify the kidnapping, disappearance and assassination of hundreds of people." A whistleblower who deserted Battalion 316 asserted that Father James Carney, a liberation theologian priest, was executed by order of General Álvarez, and that "Álvarez Martínez gave the order for Carney’s execution in the presence of a CIA officer, known as 'Mister Mike.'" Ten years later, one senior State Department official was willing to concede in private the U.S. role in the disappearances. "The green light was kill a commie," said the official. "Everybody was winking and nodding." In summarising declassified US documents showing telegrams (cables) sent and received by Negroponte during his period as US Ambassador to Honduras, the National Security Archive states that "reporting on human rights atrocities" committed by Battalion 3–16 is "conspicuously absent from the cable traffic" and that "Negroponte's cables reflect no protest, or even discussion of these issues during his many meetings with General Alvarez, his deputies and Honduran President Robert Suazo. Nor do the released cables contain any reporting to Washington on the human rights abuses that were taking place." ==1990s==

In 2002, COFADEH stated that "Many retired or active 3–16 agents have been included as intelligence advisors in the National Prevention Police." ==2000s==

Seven former members of Battalion 3–16 (Billy Joya, Alvaro Romero, Erick Sánchez, Onofre Oyuela Oyuela, Napoleón Nassar Herrera, Vicente Rafael Canales Nuñez, Salomón Escoto Salinas and René Maradianga Panchamé) occupied important positions in the administration of President Manuel Zelaya as of mid-2006, according to the human rights organisation CODEH. Following the 2009 coup d'état, in which Zelaya was detained and exiled by Honduran military units, Zelaya claimed that Battalion 3–16 was again operating, with a different name, and being led by Joya, who became a direct advisor to de facto President Roberto Micheletti. Zelaya stated (translation), "With a different name, [Battalion 3–16 is] already operating. The crimes being committed is torture to create fear among the population, and that's being directed by Mr. Joya." In addition, Nelson Willy Mejía Mejía was appointed by Micheletti as Director of Immigration, Napoleón Nassar Herrera (or Nazar) is a spokesperson for dialogue for the Secretary of Security. ==Freedom of Information requests==

Using freedom of information laws, efforts were made by various people to obtain documentary records of the role of the United States with respect to Battalion 3–16. For example, on 3 December 1996, members of United States Congress, including Tom Lantos, Joseph P. Kennedy II, Cynthia McKinney, Richard J. Durbin, John Conyers and others, asked President Bill Clinton for "the expeditious and complete declassification of all U.S. documents pertaining to human rights violations in Honduras" and claimed that "The U.S. government ... helped to establish, train and equip Battalion 3–16, military unit which was responsible for the kidnapping, torture, disappearance and murder of at least 184 Honduran students, professors, journalists, human rights activists and others in the 1980s." ==See also==