Listening In! Cia Buggers

At Work On Micronesians

From TOM BRISLIN on Guam

In the strangest development to date in the oft-criticised relationship between the United States and its “strategic trust’’ islands in Micronesia, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has ad mitted that it has been conducting wiretap surveillance on members of the Congress of Micronesia involved in negotiating a new status with America.

Reported Bob Woodward of the Washington Post revealed the CIA “bugging” early in December.

Woodward was the reporter who un earthed the original stories on the “Watergate” bugging scandal.

Because of this coincidence, the affair has been dubbed locally the “Microgate” scandal.

Early reports did not make it clear whether the Micronesians had their phones tapped while in Washington (DC) or in their home islands or both.

The US Senate plans an investiga tion into the affair during the early part of this year.

The Congress of Micronesia has also asked for an investigation by the United Nations Trusteeship Council, with a possible recommendation of censure for the US.

According to early reports, a CIA spokesman said the wiretapping was done in attempts to learn the negotiating positions and strategies the Micronesians would employ in their status talks with the US State Department.

State Department officials, however, have denied requesting, or using, such surreptitiously gained in formation.

The Attorney-General at the time of the wiretappings, Edward Levi, stated on a nationally-broadcast inter view programme (NBC’s Meet The Press) that his office never authorised any electronic surveillance of the Micronesians.

Recent US laws have dictated that all wiretaps by federal law enforce ment agencies must have the approval of the Attorney-General.

At question, and a key in the up coming US Senate investigation, is whether the CIA could lawfully con duct such wiretaps.

The CIA cannot, by law, “spy” on US citizens. The CIA spokesman quoted by Woodward gave the opi

nion that Micronesians are not US citizens, evidenced by the fact that they are negotiating with the US State Department, who deal only with “foreign” governments and people.

However, provisions of the US Constitution have been extended to Micronesia, including freedoms of ex pression and rights to privacy.

Micronesians are technically “wards” of the US Government, as all the multiple chains of islands were placed “in trust” to the United States by the United Nations following World War 11.

The Trusteeship agreement, however, called for the US to foster political autonomy and self determination for the islands.

The islands are administered by the US Department of the Interior, as are Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

The future political status negotiations are being conducted by the State Department as in dependence is one of the statuses un der consideration, as well as a “Free Associated State,” which would call for common defence by the US and constitutional protection, but general immunity from US laws and ad ministration.

The resolution passed by the Congress of Micronesia requesting a United Nations investigation was strongly critical of the US.

In a letter to the Trusteeship Coun cil, Congress of Micronesia Senate President Tosiwo Nakayama and House Speaker Bethwel Henry wrote that while the US “enjoys certain rights pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security” under the Trusteeship Agreement, the Congress of Micronesia “firmly believes that these rights cannot be ex ercised at the expense of the ad ministering authority’s (US) obliga tion to promote the political advance ment of the people of Micronesia as spelled out in Article Six of the agreement.”

The two Micronesian leaders also pointed out that Article Seven of the UN Charter directs the US to “guarantee to the inhabitants of the Trust Territory freedom of con science, and, subject only to the re quirements of public order and securi

ty, freedom of speech, of the press and of assembly; freedom of worship and ( of religious teaching; and freedom of migration and movement.”

Nakayama and Henry stated that ; Article Seven does not “allow (the I US) to conduct covert (or any other) surveillance against Micronesian citizens to determine the Micronesian negotiating position or to foster dis ; unity in Micronesia.”

CIA involvement in Micronesia is apparently not a new development. It is generally rumoured that the CIA [ established a special “training camp” in Saipan in the Mariana Islands for Nationalist Chinese from Taiwan to mount an invasion of the Communist mainland.

Supposedly, the camp was disband ed following adverse public reaction to the unsuccessful CIA-backed inva sion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in ear ly 1960.

Reaction on Guam to the “Microgate” affair was critical of the US by the press and electronic media, but did not raise many eyebrows in the local government.

Guam also plans to enter new [status talks with the US, but their negotiations will be with the US Interior Department which has no of ficial relationship with the CIA. Since Guamanians are American citizens, local government and status commis sion leaders expressed doubt that there has been any intelligence-gather surveillance of them.

Since the wiretapping was so well publicised, and since the United Nations will undoubtedly become in volved and issue their own report of findings, the “Microgate” affair may prove embarrassing to the United States in negotiations with “real” foreign powers, as charges of alleged “bugging” could stalemate other talks.