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- Comunicado de Prensa
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- IDHUCA and CEJIL encourage El Salvador to cooperate with the Spanish justice system in the ‘‘Jesuits’’ case
IDHUCA and CEJIL encourage El Salvador to cooperate with the Spanish justice system in the ‘‘Jesuits’’ case
San Salvador, and San Jose, December 6, 2011 – The Human Rights Institute of the ‘‘José Simeón Cañas’’ Central American University and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) urge El Salvador to cooperate with the Spanish justice system in the case of the Jesuit priests who were assassinated in 1989. The State must respond to the extradition request put forth by the Council of Ministers on December 2 against 13 former members of the military, and meet its international human rights obligations.
The Salvadoran State has not yet brought to justice those responsible for the grievous acts committed 22 years ago. Based on its failure to comply with such obligations, El Salvador must cooperate with the process that has begun in Spain, which currently represents the only viable hope of obtaining justice for the victims and their families.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stated that access to justice in cases of grave violations of human rights ‘‘creates obligations for States to adopt measures to guarantee that violations are not left unpunished, whether those measures exercise domestic or international jurisdiction that will judge and, eventually, appropriately sanction those responsible, be it alone or in cooperation with other states acting in pursuit of the same goal.’’
IDHUCA and CEJIL urge the Salvadoran State to act accordingly in order to bring the accused before the Spanish justice system and have them prosecuted and sanctioned in accordance with the severity of their acts.
Background information on the case
The ‘‘Jesuits’’ case refers to the assassination of six Spanish Jesuit priests and two of their assistants by members of the Salvadoran military on the campus of the ‘‘José Simeón Cañas’’ Central American University in San Salvador. The executions took place on November 16, 1989, in the context of the FMLN´s largest military offensive at the time.
A military commission investigated the events and presented its report on January 12, 1990, highlighting nine military members as allegedly responsible. However, only two of them were found guilty and both later benefitted by the application of the Amnesty Law for the Consolidation of Peace in El Salvador.
On November 22, 1999, the Washington based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington D.C, addressed the case by recommending the Salvadoran State investigate the crimes. Yet, the case still remains in impunity over ten years after the resolution was issued.
In 2008, the San Francisco based Center for Justice and Accountability and Spain´s Pro-Human Rights Association filed a criminal complaint before the Spanish National Court for the assassination of six Jesuit priests. On May 30, 2011, the judge ordered the prosecution and provisional arrest of 20 former military members charged with eight counts of murder and one for crimes against humanity. On December 2, 2011, the Council of Ministers of Spain requested the extradition of 13 former military members currently in El Salvador, and of two who reside in the United States.
Press contact in Washington:
Milli Legrain
Tel (1) 202 319 3000
