THE Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has agreed to study a complaint filed by the Costa Rican Journalists’ Association against the Costa Rican government regarding the bombing of a press conference at an anti-Sandinista jungle outpost in La Penca, Nicaragua, 21 years ago.
The tragedy left four dead, including Tico Times reporter Linda Frazier and two employees of Costa Rica’s Canal 6, and scarred more than a dozen other reporters for life.
No one has ever been convicted of the bombing and the Costa Rican government has been criticized for its lack of investigation, particularly immediately following the bombing. La Penca survivors carried out most of the research. Many of the reporters attending the press conference, called by Sandinista-turned-rebel Edén Pastora, came from Costa Rica.
The Journalists Association says Costa Rica violated the human rights of the victims by not thoroughly investigating the crime. It filed the case with the Inter-American Commission on Sept. 12 (TT, Sept. 23).
The goal is to determine who was responsible for the bombing, or to establish that it is definitely impossible to find anyone responsible, association executive director Johnny Delgado told the daily La Nación.
Fingers point at both the left-wing Sandinista government in power in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990 and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
An investigation by The Miami Herald identified the bomber as Sandinista sympathizer Vital Roberto Gaguine, who was reportedly killed in a 1989 attack on an Argentine military base. Gaguine was linked to La Penca by photographs and a fingerprint match, but many in Costa Rica continue to suspect CIA involvement in the bombing.
The Human Rights Commission will decide whether to refer the complaint to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
