Bruce Harris (NOTE: This is not US Army Ret. LTG Bruce Harris) (born 1955 in Scotland, United Kingdom) is the disgraced former executive director of Casa Alianza, from 1989 to September 2004. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Casa Alianza is an international not for profit organisation and the Latin American branch of Covenant House. He was dismissed from this post after admitting he had paid a young adult male, who had earlier been in the care of Casa Alianza, for sex. Prostitution is the act of performing Sexual activity in exchange for Money. Harris had previously presented himself as a "Christian Family" man and as such this act was considered especially shocking both by his constituency of supporters and by those he attacked while alleging a higher moral standpoint.
The Casa Alianza organisation provided children with food, shelter and other services for Central American children as well as claiming to advocate on behalf of them. As its chief Harris had received a number of prizes and honours including the fifty-thousand-dollar Olof Palme prize in 1996[1] and in 2004 the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, worth USD1. The Conrad N Hilton Humanitarian Prize is the largest Humanitarian award in the world 5 million. In 2001, he was made an Officer of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom[2]. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II One of his most notable campaigns was to attempt to end the alleged torture and murder of street children by Guatemalan police and 392 cases alleging these offences were brought to trial[3]. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest He testified regarding children's rights several times before international bodies, in one instance helping to achieve a ruling against Guatemala by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica.
Controversy
Harris was involved in several major disputes due to his antagonistic style and hatred of Central American authorities. In 2000, Costa Rican president Miguel Angel Rodríguez accused him of plotting to damage Costa Rica's reputation in regard to its alleged child sex trade. Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica,) is a Country in Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría (born 9 January 1940) is a Costa Rican economist, lawyer businessman and politician In 2004, he was tried and acquitted for the serious offence of defaming the character of the spouse of a Guatemalan Supreme Court member. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest Harris had accused her of participating in a scheme to have poor mothers put their babies up for adoption without asking compensation. According to Harris, the children would then be provided to U. S. families for $20,000. He also made a speech welcoming the theoretical collapse of the Guatemalan state as a "befitting fate" through bankruptcy as a result of litigation by Casa Alianza[4].
Sex scandal
Bruce Harris was dismissed by Casa Alianza after it was discovered that he had paid a nineteen-year-old man for sex[5]. This young man had previously been a resident of Casa Alianza when a child. Bruce Harris acknowledged he had had sex with this young man while trying to trivialise his own behaviour, and there was a general concern that this might have been part of a pattern of sexual abuse of children in his care. The Honduran special prosecutor's office for crimes against children investigated the claim but it eventually dropped the case, unable to ascertain whether Harris had committed a crime. Following the allegation, Harris wrote a letter to the Associated Press saying he had resigned and that he did so to spend more time with his family. The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio However, Casa Alianza stated that they had fired him, and said Harris had admitted wrongdoing.
Rosalía Gil, Costa Rica's minister for children, said, "This is causing a type of shock in the community that works in favour of the children, because Bruce has been characterised by his denunciations of abuse against children. "[6]
References
- ^ Olof Palmes minnesfond
- ^ Videoconference on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women, Adolescents and Children
- ^ Welcome to Speak Truth to Power
- ^ Honduras This Week Opinions & Editorial
- ^ The Tico Times Online Daily Page
- ^ Breaking Covenant.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic