From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Date: 22 Jul 92 08:58 PDT
Subject: peace accords-truth commission
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1473800090:000:4808
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Jul 22 08:58:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: peace accords-truth commission

/* Written 10:41 am  Jul 22, 1992 by web:pbi in cdp:pn.alerts */
Urgent action:

As part of the Peace Accords in El Salvador, a Reconciliation Law
(Amnesty) decreed that all political prisoners - with the
exception of those to be studied by the Truth Commission - be set
free by January 1, 1992.
According to various humanitarian and human rights organizations,
of the lists of political prisoners that they presented to the
government, there are still 28 persons incarcerated. In addition,
they say, since January 1, an uncertain number of others have
been arrested on political charges.
The Salvadoran government maintains that only eight of these
individuals are really political prisoners, and that the rest are
"common criminals".
The eight had been retained, according to the Supreme Court, so
their cases could be studied by the Truth Commission, which would
decide if the amnesty law applied or not. Suddenly, however,
before the members of the Truth Commission could review the
cases, trial dates were set for two of these eight - Cesar Erazo
Cruz (charged with the assassination of Dr. Francisco Jose
Guerrero in November 28, 1989) and Adolfo Aguilar Payes (charged
with the assassinations of Edgar Chacon and Gabriel Payes in June
and July, 1989). Now, before the Truth Commission has had the
chance to determine whether any or all of the eight are political
prisoners, one trial was scheduled to begin on July 21, the other
on July 28.
The evidence against the two is said to be weak - in the case of
Payes, the only evidence presented to date has been an extra-
judicial confession which was later repudiated by him as having
been signed under torture. This type of evidence is commonly
rejected in most countries because of its frequent relation to
cases of torture. Both the pre-Accords governmental use of extra-
judicial confessions and the practice of holding prisoners for
years in the Salvadoran penal system have been denounced
frequently both within El Salvador and by international
organizations.
The peace accords included mechanisms by which peace with justice
could be reached in El Salvador. Cruz and Payes were originally
included in the Supreme Court list of those the government
acknowledged to be political prisoners. Their cases were promised
review by the Truth Commission, one of those mechanisms for
guaranteeing that old injustices would not be perpetuated. It is
important that the agreed upon systems not be breached if a true
and lasting peace is to be found. For Cruz and Payes it means
even more: adherence to those systems will mean that they can't
be tried and punished without due process.


We ask you consider sending a fax, therefore, as soon as
possible, to:

Mauricio Gutierrez Castro
Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia
Fax: 011-503-71-21-97

or 
Alfredo Cristiani
Presidente de la Republica de El Salvador
Casa Presidencial
Fax: 011-503-22-85-14

A sample message follows:
Concerned about development of judicial cases against Aguilar
Payes and Erazo Cruz, held nearly three years without trial, who
subsequently appeared on Supreme Court list of those to be
reviewed by Truth Commission. Urge this and all provisions of the
historic Accords be carried out for these and all possible
political prisoners.

You can also send a prepared message through the company FAXNET:

Call FAXNET toll-free at 1-800-831-2202 and ask to send the
prepared PBI message:
ask for message #21 to send a message to Cristiani
ask for message #22 to send a message to Castro
The cost is $9 if you ask to be belled, $7 if you charge it to
your Visa or MasterCard.
If you fax your request (# 1-800-241-1170) the charge is $7
billed, $ 6 charged.

For further information call the PBI-USA office at (617) 491-4226
or the Canadian office at (416) 594-0429.

Thank you very much for your support.


P.S. An update has just been received on the above situation. 
The trial of Erazo has finished and he has been found innocent. 
There is no other news yet of the other trial, except that the
defense lawyer still has not been allowed to see the evidence
that will be presented. During Erazo's trial, the persecution
presented ballistic evidence that the gun used in all three
assasinations was the same. It was assumed that these
assasinations were the responsibility of the FMLN although they
have denied it.  Others have felt that they were the work of
death squads. Dr. Gutierrez was at the time of his death
collecting evidence on the Jesuit murders (Nov. '89) and was
thought to have the evidence on him at the time of his murder.
Our concern remains the same - that the due process established
by the agreements be granted to all.