victims but it was not until January 2012 that some action was taken on this issue. At the commemoration of the Peace Accords, President Mauricio Funes asked for forgiveness on behalf of the state for the massacre at El Mozote (in December 1981) that had been perpetrated by the army and announced the establishment of a national program for reparations for the victims of this and other violations of human rights that occurred during the armed conflict. 17 In its review of the Truth Commission on El Salvador, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) stressed that, ...Despite its 'highly relevant' role, [truth commissions] 'cannot be considered as a suitable substitute for proper judicial procedures as a method for arriving at the truth. The value of truth commissions is that they are created, not with the presumption that there will be no trials, but to constitute a step towards knowing the truth and, ultimately, making justice prevail. Nor can the institution of a truth commission be accepted as a substitute for the state's obligations, which cannot be delegated, to investigate violations committed within its jurisdiction, and to identify those responsible, punish them, and ensure adequate compensation for the victim... 18 The IACHR's recommendations likely went unheeded because the right wing ARENA party that dominated the government during the war remained in power another two decades. As legal expert Margaret Popkin points out, a peace process "is challenging in a context such as El Salvador's where the regime responsible for many