By William E. Gibson Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 12:13 a.m. May 17, 2000
WASHINGTON -- Incensed about the forced removal of Elián González from his Miami relatives last month, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and 15 fellow House Republicans on Tuesday asked the Justice Department's inspector general to launch an investigation of the early-morning raid.
"According to eyewitness accounts, the federal agents used excessive force and threatened the González family as well as members of the press and other persons with deadly force," the House members wrote to the inspector general.
Attorney General Janet Reno has defended the raid, saying U.S. marshals went bearing weapons to discourage violence from inside the Little Havana home and from demonstrators who opposed the 6-year-old boy's removal. Reno said the show of force prevented the use of force and allowed federal
agents to return Elián to his Cuban father safely.
"We believe the so-called 'show of force' policy used by the attorney general unnecessarily put lives at risk on April 22," Diaz-Balart and fellow House members wrote.
The letter was signed by 16 Republicans, including Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami and Bill McCollum of Longwood.
The inspector general's office -- which serves an internal review function, including investigations of actions by Justice Department officials -- had not received the request as of Tuesday afternoon and had no comment on it.
"We take it quite seriously. But just because we receive a request does not mean we would open an investigation," said Paul Martin, special counsel to the inspector general. "We would have to see the nature of the request, and first of all make sure it's within our
jurisdiction."
"We assess each request on its own merits," Martin said.
The Senate and House judiciary committees have each begun inquiries about the raid.
In other developments on Tuesday, attorneys for Elián's Miami relatives asked the three federal appeals court judges considering whether the boy should be granted a political asylum hearing to reject an attempt by his father to replace Lázaro González, the child's
great-uncle, in the case.
In April, Washington lawyer Gregory Craig told the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta that Juan Miguel González, as Elián's sole surviving parent, should speak on behalf of his son.
Lawyers for the Miami relatives, however, told the court Tuesday that Juan Miguel González's request should be denied because in Cuba, he could not protect his son. They said González has no real parental rights in Cuba and that country's constitution requires parents to
actively participate in a child's indoctrination into the communist system.
Copyright 1999, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc. |