AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES ON THE BORDER

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Amnesty International [ http://www.amnesty.org/ ]
will release its first-ever report this week on human rights abuses by
Immigration and Naturalization Service agents on the U.S-Mexico border.

The report's international release will coincide with the first anniversary
of the death of Esequiel Hernandez -- the Texas teenager shot and killed by
a Marine patrolling the Mexican border.

"This is the first time that the whole focus is on border abuses," said
Kerry McGrath, deputy director of Amnesty International's regional office in
Atlanta. "Amnesty is concerned about the human rights abuses that are
occurring there."

Other immigrant rights organizations, including Centro de Apoyo al Migrante
of Reynosa, the Civil Rights Project and the Immigration Law Enforcement

Monitoring Project, are joining Amnesty International representatives at a
news conference in McAllen on Wednesday. Another news conference will be

held in Chicago, Ms. McGrath said, and the report will be made available to
news organizations around the world.

Amnesty International officials would not go into detail about the report,
citing an embargo. The Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project,
however, has documented 139 civil rights abuses reported from January 1997
to August 1997, when the Border Patrol launched Operation Rio Grande. The
initiative funneled more manpower and technology to the border to crack down
on illegal immigration.

In the first eight months after the operation began, September 1997 to April
1998, the number of reported abuses increased to 192, the group contends,
saying 96 percent of the people claiming abuse are of Hispanic origin.

The death of Hernandez, 18, a 10th-grader from the border town of Redford,
became a rallying point for immigrant rights groups. A grand jury declined
to indict Cpl. Clemente Banuelos after concluding he thought he was
protecting a fellow serviceman when he shot Hernandez.

"Human rights abuses and his death are inextricably tied together," said

Nathan Selzer, of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project.
"They're both results of increased militarization of our borders."

McAllen Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Joe Garza said Monday that few, if
any, abuse complaints against his agents have been substantiated.

The Border Patrol tries to maintain a ratio of seven agents to one
supervisory agent, Garza said. Border Patrol agents have to work under tough
circumstances while subject to intense public scrutiny, he said, adding that
agents are given sensitivity training and abuse complaints are thoroughly
investigated.

"We stress that we must treat everyone with courtesy, respect and dignity,"
Garza said. "I don't believe that the Border Patrol goes out and
deliberately abuses people."

Ms. McGrath said the report reflects Amnesty International's ongoing efforts
to highlight violations of human rights and international law. She added

that she could not compare immigrant abuses in the United States to abuses
in other countries.

"Amnesty does not make comparisons between countries," she said, noting that
the United States is among more than 140 countries accused of human rights
abuses in group's annual human rights report. "We speak out on abuses
wherever they occur and whenever they occur."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett