From: harelb@MATH.CORNELL.EDU (Harel Barzilai)
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: EL SALVADOR -- BASIC BACKGROUND
Date: 27 Jul 92 06:10:07 GMT
Organization: misc.activism.progressive on UseNet ; ACTIV-L@UMCVMB

[Recall, this is the "regional standards" and "Central America mode" to
which Reagan/Bush wanted to return the Sandinistas to. --HB]
			  =================
			  C o n t e n t s :
			  =================
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(1) Who Runs the ``Death Squads''?
(2) W h o   a r e   t h e   v i c t i m s ?
(3) To what extent, if any, have the criminals been held accountable?
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These brief quotes are divided into three sections which may be
titled: "Who runs the ``Death Squads''"; "Who are the victims"; and
"To what extent, if any, have the criminals been held accountable?"

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                    ==============================
		    Who Runs the ``Death Squads''?
                    ==============================

	"The testimony of armed forces personnel, the details of
thousands of case studies and other information examined by Amnesty
International lead to the conclusion that actions attributed by
authorities to "death squads" are routinely carried out by regular
units of the armed forces which include the military and the security
services, and by special intelligence units that incorporate civilian
gunmen under their supervision and control." [Conclusions, p. 44]

	"Amnesty International has concluded that the Salvadoran
`death squads' are simply used to shield the government from
accountability for the torture, `disappearance' and extrajudicial
executions committed in their name. The squads are made up of *regular
army and police agents*, acting in uniform or plain clothes, *under
the orders of superior officers*."  [emphasis added]
[Who Runs the ``Death Squads''", pp. 8-9]

	"The Salvadorian Government maintains that `death squad'-style
killings are the work of extremist groups beyond its control. However,
there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that the squads are made up
of regular troops and police -- that they form an intrinsic part of
the security apparatus" [Back cover]

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Having identified the murders, torturers, and kidnappers, we may ask:

	       ========================================
	       W h o   a r e   t h e   v i c t i m s ?
	       ========================================

"All sectors of Salvadorian society have been the target of ``death
squad''-style killings...in a great many cases the choice of victim
has been indicator of who lies behind the ``death squads''. Those
targeted have been members of groups perceived to be in opposition to
the government, or to represent a nucleus around whom such opposition
could coalesce, including students, trade unionists, members of
cooperatives, church workers and peasants." [Page 25]

[The Brigada Maximiliano Herna'ndez Martinez, Maximiliano Herna'ndez
Martinez Brigade, is named after the Salvadoran general who ordered
the massacre of an estimated 30,000 peasants in 1932 in the wake of an
uprising (from the AI report, page 8)]

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=================================================================
To what extent, if any, have the criminals been held accountable?
=================================================================

	"Tens of thousands of people have been the victims of
extrajudicial execution and "disappearance" by El Salvador's armed
forces since 1980... None of the armed forces officers responsible
have been brought to justice, most remain in positions of command."
[Conclusions, p. 44]

	"Murders of tens of thousands of Salvadorian citizens have
gone without even a semblance of investigation. Witnesses to
abductions or killing have recorded license numbers of vans used by
``death squads''. But the authorities have then refused to make public
the identity of institutions of individuals to which the vehicles were
registered..." [Page 37]

Related items from "Conclusions":

	"Efforts by El Salvador's independent and church-run human
rights organizations to investigate these killing have been hampered
by the harassment, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, mutilation,
extrajudicial execution and "disappearance" of their members..."

	"The military court system in El Salvador has routinely failed
to prosecute military personnel accused of involvement in torture,
"disappearance" and extrajudicial execution. The exclusive
jurisdiction of the military courts over members of the armed forces
provides a shield behind which armed forces personnel commit grave
crimes with impunity."

	"In exceptional cases in which military court jurisdiction has
been waived - notably the murder in 1981 of two American labour
advisers and their Salvadorian colleague - civilian courts have been
intimidated and proceeding obstructed by lack of cooperation by the
armed forces.

[See also the sections "The Courts and the Military: Obstacles to
Effective Investigation" and "The Legal Framework: A Smokescreen for
Official ``Death Squad'' Activities"]

	"Convictions of five National Guards were eventually obtained
in the case of the four US churchwomen murdered in 1980, but two
judges involved in the early stages of the case quit after threats to
their lives. The judge who eventually heard the case suspected that
his brother's murder was an attempt to warn him off, and the lawyer
defending one of the convicted guardsmen later said he was forced to
take part in a cover-up to prevent senior officers being indicted.
According to the lawyer's account, he was abducted by National
Guardsmen in civilian clothes, tortured at National Guard headquarters
and released only after pressure from the US Embassy and the ICRC. The
lawyer left the country shortly afterwards and was treated in Los
Angeles for broken ribs. Earlier, his brother had been arrested and
brother-in-law abducted - all part, he says, of pressure to ensure his
collaboration in the cover-up." p.32 (Section 4.6.5)

******************************************************************
[This 50 page report, with pictures (which are clearer in the Spanish
edition), is only $5 from Amnesty International, Publications, 322
Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10001. Ask for "El Salvador: ``Death
Squads'' -- A Government Strategy", first published in October, 1988;
or call Amnesty at: (212)807-8400 (ask for "publications")]
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