From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Proceso: Generals File Libel Suit
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:04:50 GMT

/** reg.elsalvador: 148.0 **/
** Topic: Proceso 542: Editorial **
** Written  4:21 am  Dec 13, 1992 by cidai@huracan.cr in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
From: cidai@huracan.cr (Centro de Informacion Documentacion y Apoyo a la Invest. - UCAJSC)
Subject: Proceso 542: Editorial

Center for Information, Documentation and Research Support (CIDAI)
Central American University (UCA)
San Salvador, El Salvador
 
PROCESO 542
December 9, 1992
 
EDITORIAL:
The generals file a suit
 
     Generals Ponce and Zepeda have filed a libel suit with the
Attorney General's Office against the non-governmental Human Rights
Commission and the UNTS. This is the military chiefs' response to
the paid advertisements published by the two organizations in
Diario Latino, accusing them of numerous human rights violations.
Since then, further ads have appeared accusing other top officers,
as well as a list of 224 officers accused of similar violations.
     What is novel in all this is that the generals who were
accused have decided to file suit with the Attorney General's
Office. Only a few years ago, those responsible for the
publications would have been 'disappeared' or summarily executed,
as did occur with many human rights advocates and journalists
committed to justice. The fact that violent means were not used is
an aspect which must not be overlooked.
     The Attorney General's Office not only must demand proof of
the charges, but should also seek them actively, given the
importance of the case, since the prestige of the Armed Forces is
at stake. In order to protect the generals from the charges and
from further legal action, no more attacks must be made on the
army's prestige. The Attorney General has the duty to investigate
in order to demonstrate that those accused are not guilty of the
violations attributed to them.
     The judicial system has currently admitted two suits for
defamation of character. The first was filed by an FMLN leader
against the government's Secretary of Information. The second comes
from the Minister and Vice-Minister of Defense against the
organizations mentioned above. Both must be equally prosecuted and,
therefore, both place the impartiality and effectiveness of the
discredited judicial branch to the test.
     The suit filed by the generals, however, contains another
dimension. The plaintiffs are perfectly right in saying that the
rule of law must prevail in El Salvador, without exceptions or
privileges. Thus, they must be reminded that during the war years
neither they nor their colleagues respected human rights,
especially those rights, recognized by El Salvador, which apply to
situations of conflict precisely in order to avoid excesses or
abuses.
     It must be recognized that the issue of human rights has been
extremely bothersome for leaders of practically all the armies of
Latin America. To them, talk of human rights is tantamount to
speaking of the devil, since they feel the issue limits their scope
of action. They would like to use indiscriminate and unlimited
violence in order to annihilate those they consider their enemies.
Latin American military chiefs feel they have special powers which
place them above the law and allow them to exercise violence at
their discretion.
     The issue of human rights is totally foreign to the Latin
American military. One must be very professional in order to be
able to combine a military career with unlimited respect for human
rights. The Salvadoran army is no exception; quite the contrary.
For this reason, the peace accords demand a transformation of the
traditional doctrines of the army and the police. The key is to
conceive of the military profession and the function of the police
as a service to the citizenry and as a means to protect, defend and
promote human rights.
     The law must always prevail, and must be applied to all alike.
The generals have the right to file a libel suit, but the victims
of human rights violations have already accumulated even more
rights, precisely because they are victims. It would be a monstrous
injustice to hear the generals' suit without first having heard the
many demands of their victims, in the context of due process. For
ethical and Christian reasons, there can be no ruling in favor of
the generals without first doing justice in the cases of the
victims. One of the arguments most often heard from the generals is
that the charges are part of a conspiracy, the object of which is
the destruction of the Armed Forces. In reality, what has hurt the
Armed Forces most is the lack of investigation. Speculation is
avoided when accurate and credible information is available. The
chiefs and officers themselves are the ones who are destroying the
Armed Forces and conspiring against it. The only logical
explanation for the lack of investigation of the crimes which have
been committed is that many officers are implicated in them. For
these officers who are responsible for human rights violations and
common crimes, to remain in the ranks of the army and even in
command posts is a disgrace to the entire institution.
     Human rights violators and common criminals are shielded by
the institution without regard for the harm they are doing to it.
Therefore, keeping the Ad Hoc Commission report confidential only
serves to protect violators and criminals, and only continues to
harm the institution.
     Demanding truth and justice in the names of the victims does
not mean destroying the Armed Forces. We must continue to confuse
the stability of the institution with the need to conceal the
identities of human rights violators and criminals. Nor should the
institution allow its power to be used in order to cover up their
deeds.
     The true honor of the Armed Forces lies in defending and
promoting respect for human rights. The Armed Forces ought to be
the first to demand investigations of the crimes and violations
committed over the past decade, and to demand justice. The Armed
Forces could demonstrate its true vocation for democracy by
expelling those who have violated human rights and committed
crimes, without regard for post nor rank. The Armed Forces should
take a firm step toward participating in a democracy and showing
its commitment to truth and justice. Only then will its true honor
be acknowledged by society, and only then will the people respect
it.
 

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