Talk:Bruce Harris
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This article needs to properly acknowledge the beginning, rise and eventual fall of Bruce Harris. His achievements are thrown into sharp relief by his personal weaknesses that eventually led to his departure from child protection. The issue was not his sexuality but that he had presented delibrately as a "family values" proponent and the inappropriate power relationship that he had with the young man who he paid for sex.
The issue was his disgusting and hypocritical behaviour, believing he coulkd criticize others with much higher moral values than himself. He is Scottish so I have changed the spelling to UK English. I have also tried removing some of the POV. His outrageous accusations against Central America and its people and culture, during his tenure at casa Alianza should indeed be expanded upon. This is the man who wanted to bankrupt the Guatemalan government, no guessing who would suffer were he to have achieved his lamentable goal. His fat wage packet (typical charity corruption that does so much harm to CA should also be mentioned. El Rojo 01:09, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
- You clearly dislike the man, and that's fine. However, you need to keep your personal opinions out of the article. You can report the facts, and the statements of others, but don't add interpretation of your own. That's what Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy means. Superm401 - Talk 22:21, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
- I dont know Mr Harris, all I did was to reflect currently held beliefs around him. You'll find its Central Americans who hated him for his provocative statements (lets bankrupt Guatemala, etc) and that was before he proved himself a hypocrite by paying for sex with one of his boys. Someone who callas for the bankrupting of a state as a serious propostion is probabl;y very disturbed, and in this case that appears to be the truth. El Rojo 00:44, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Bruce Harris
I find myself compelled to take serious issue with the damning portrayal of Bruce Harris, the former director of Casa Alianza. Insult is added to unjustifiable injury by omitting the very real and lasting contributions this much decorated advocate has made to the cause of human rights in Central America.
I am a widely published veteran journalist and author. Since 1991, I have been on assignment in Central America where I cover politics, the military, human rights and various socio-economic issues. I first met Bruce Harris in Guatemala City in 1991. I have been closely monitoring his work on behalf of homeless minors and reporting on his successes, trials and tribulations ever since. I know him to be a fiercely dedicated, courageous, tireless advocate of the voiceless, whether they are street children, alleged "delinquents" or defenseless infants consigned to the auction block of illegal adoption schemes. In answer to those who would whitewash Central America, I would point out that my own experience -- now in its 16th year -- bears witness to the colossal corruption, inept and corrosive governance, epidemic violence and blatant disregard for justice, particularly in Guatemala and Honduras.
I was with Harris when a teen was assassinated by agents of the state in Tegucigalpa for stealing a piece of cake. I was with him when he lobbied all night for the release of several minors who had been arrested without cause and illegally incarcerated with adult felons in some fetid dungeon without benefit of a hearing. One of the kids had been tortured with a cattle prod. Another had been raped by a policeman. I was with Harris when he forced the release of young kids -- 12-, 13-year-olds who were pining away at a prison in La Ceiba. And I chronicled the travesty of justice to which he was subjected in answer to his accusation -- with verifiable evidence -- that the wife of the former President of Guatemala's Supreme Court was engaged in fraudulent adoptions schemes.
Journalists and whistle-blowers share common traits: they are perceived as arrogant, insensitive and vexing. Their revelations are seldom appreciated, sometimes embarrassing, occasionally incriminating, always untimely and damn inconvenient. Both seek the truth, one in the interest of historicity, the other in the service of justice. Each is a vital cog in the vast and complex machine that energizes a democracy. They become indispensable in marginally democratic nations where the muzzling of the press reveals the repressive nature of government. Whereas the press is the unelected watchdog over those elected -- or self-empowered -- to run a country, human rights monitors and advocates are the gatekeepers of a higher moral ground upon which rests the very foundations of a free society. Being the watchdog and message-bearer to the multitude is a tall order, especially for an institution as fragile as the press. The task takes on Herculean proportions when the truth is uttered, not by a credentialed journalist, but by an eminent and respected human rights activist. What is endured as “inauspicious rumor” by the first is branded as “seditious effrontery” when bared by the other.
Central American nations' insistence that the truth "is not a legitimate defense" and that freedom of expression excludes the right to speak up against crime and injustice bodes ill for a region whose somber and violent past continues to be the subject of scrutiny. Underlying the Harris case, and regardless of the outcome, is the nagging reminder that in Central America, despite claims to the contrary, transparent politics, justice and a respect for fundamental rights is a nebulous objective, not a priority.
One last thought. I have reason to believe that the brief, singular and uncharacteristic aberrant episode for which Harris continues to be crucified in blogs and other self-serving venues, was a clear case of entrapment. Harris' engaged and combative style, his unbending belief in the rule of law, while paving the way for much needed reforms and resulting in the indictment of scores of child abusers, rapists and murderers, also earned him enemies, some in the countries in which he worked, others within his own organization. The latter, I am convinced, engineered his demise because his uncompromising style brought undue negative attention upon Casa Alianza by the host countries. In parting, I can say without fear of contradiction that since Harris' unceremonious dismissal, Casa Alianza has lapsed into inertia and obscurity. As for Harris, he has been indelibly and painfully marked. I hope content providers bent on blind revenge have the gallantry and moral honesty to redress the wrong their write-ups have caused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sighet (talk • contribs) 08:13, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
