El Salvador Jesuits seek reopening of case in 1989 massacre

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


By MARCOS ALEMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
 SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Nov 16, 2017, 1:57 PM ET

The Roman Catholic Jesuit community in El Salvador will ask authorities to reopen the case against a group of military officials suspected in the 1989 massacre of six priests and two female employees, a lawyer said Thursday.

The announcement came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for a Salvadoran ex-colonel's extradition to Spain to face charges of allegedly helping plan the attack on the Jesuit priests, five of whom were Spaniards.

Manuel Escalante, a human rights lawyer at the Jesuit-run Jose Simeon Canas Central American University, told YSUCA radio that a conviction in Spain would be a big step toward "eliminating historical impunity."

He added that Salvadoran prosecutors must also act to advance the case in the Central American nation.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/el-salvador-jesuits-seek-reopening-case-1989-massacre-51199411

[gopiscrap]

1. Wow I remember this

Last edited Thu Nov 16, 2017, 06:35 PM - Edit history (1)

I was at a Jesuit High School for Mass on their International Day of Mourning for the priests and our Congressman came in and basically said: "too bad, they knew they were in a war zone" our congress critter kept on voting for funds for the School of the America's which trained the assassins. We ran against him and he had to spend 600000 on race that should have cost 80000 and since that point he never voted for funding for the SOA again. This means a lot to me.

[sandensea]

2. Good to hear. They must have gotten encouragement from Pope Francis - a fellow Jesuit.

Aside from the heinous crime itself, one of the things that bothered me at the time it happened (I was 11 - but already had a keen interest in politics), was the way Poppy Bush went out of his way to make excuses and run interference for the president of El Salvador at the time, Alfredo Cristiani.

Cristiani, as you know, coddled right-wing death squads. He was also a sharp political animal, pretending to actively prosecute these murders - all the while preparing an Amnesty law which, when enacted in 1993, basically got the death squads off the hook.

The Supreme Court of El Salvador last year found the Amnesty Law unconstitutional, finally.

Thank you for keeping us informed, Judi.

[burrowowl]

3. Thanks for the post!