A Tainted Report?

When an "independent investigation" of alleged atrocities against Nicaraguan civilians by contra forces was released last month, much of the press, including TIME, treated the report as the work of a neutral observer, even though the document owned up to a number of circumstances that might have raised some questions about its objectivity. For one thing, the investigation was conceived by a Washington law firm (Reichler & Appelbaum) that represents the Sandinista government. For another, the two fact finders, New York Lawyer Reed Brody and Washington Law Student James Bordelon, lived in a government residence while in Managua and were given office space by the Sandinistas. The report, written by Brody, also noted that the Sandinistas had indicated where some witnesses could be found and sometimes provided transportation to reach them.

A former Nicaraguan bureaucrat, Bayardo Payan, 28, said last week that he had been a government accountant during Brody's four-month fact-finding tour and personally arranged payment of roughly $2,000 to cover Brody's food, transportation and lodging expenses. Payan also charged that witnesses - interviewed by Brody were "manipulated peasants" whose testimony was sometimes edited to remove any pro-contra sentiments. According to Payan, Brody often displayed a photograph of himself hugging President Daniel Ortega Saavedra and called Ronald Reagan a "fascist."

Brody conceded that he does not like Reagan but said, "I don't think I called him a fascist." He admitted that he opposes U.S. policy in Nicaragua, saying, "It's wrong, shortsighted, and being in Nicaragua convinced me of that."

Payan stressed that he was not suggesting that the contras had committed no atrocities. His statements too seemed part of the continuing propaganda war: he was presented at a Washington breakfast arranged by a public relations company that has done work for the State Department.