From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Salvador: Decade-old massacre refuses to be buried
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 22:38:59 GMT

/** reg.elsalvador: 137.0 **/
** Topic: IPS:Decade Old Massacre **
** Written  8:18 am  Nov  5, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: IPS:Decade Old Massacre

/* Written 12:04 am  Nov  5, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: EL SALVADOR: DECADE OLD MASSACRE REFUSES TO BE BURIED

an inter press service feature

by pablo iacub

el mozote (el salvador), oct (ips) -- rufina amaya does not have
the courage to watch mass graves containing friends and family
unearthed, but since 1981, the lone survivor of the ''el mozote''
massacre has dedicated herself to denouncing the tragedy.

according to amaya, on dec. 10, 1981, members of el salvador's
''atlacatl'' batallion entered the village of el mozote and began
several days of killings in which nearly 1,000 men, women and
children were systematically massacred.

at the time, amaya hid amongst a small herd of cattle and
quietly snuck away until, unable to contain her grief, she
submerged her face in a puddle in order to cry without being
heard.

eleven years later, amaya does not want to watch as
investigators uncover the bullet ridden skulls and bones of the
victims, but she is glad that finally there is evidence
documenting the worst massacre of salvador's twelve year civil
war, and perhaps justice will follow.

''you are seeing the truth.  they killed more children than
adults,'' amaya said crying.

el mozote was a small village situated 200 kilometers
north-east of san salvador, in a zone virtually liquidated by the
army during the first few years of the war.

now, el mozote is a ghost town.  in what was once a convent,
four argentine anthropologists are meticulously reconstructing an
account of the massacre from the remains.

the anthropologists began excavations on oct. 13 and so far,
in the convent alone, have uncovered 62 cadavers, predominantly
children and babies -- and the excavations have just begun.

the team of anthropologists began working together in 1984,
uncovering evidence of people ''disappeared'' during that
country's 1976-1983 military regime.

they have also worked in chile, bolivia, brazil, venezuela,
guatemala, panama, the philippines and kurdistan.

according to team member mercedes doretti, what they are
finding in el mozote eclipses their earlier work.  ''it is a
scandal,'' she told ips.

doretti added that as their work continues, they are proving
''to the letter'' the accuracy of amaya's denounciations.
(more/ips)
----


el salvador: decade (2)

according to amaya, following the massacre, the atlacatl
battalion set fire to el mozote and surrounding villages and
left.  several days later, fmln guerrillas entered the area and
buried the bodies, which were being devoured by vultures.

in addition to her husband and all her relatives, amaya lost
four children in the massacre.  the youngest was just eight
months old.

men were assassinated first, women next, and finally the
children, she said.

''i heard the children screaming.  they were killing them with
knives,'' amaya said.

the atlacatl battalion continued in similar fashion throughout
the region, considered by the army to be the social base for the
fmln guerrillas.

the atlacatl battalion is one of five salvadoran
counter-insurgency units created and trained by the united states
military.

the battalion is also implicated in other civilian massacres,
including the assassination of six jesuit priests and two of
their assistants on nov. 16, 1989.

alerted by the sound of gunfire and smoke rising from el
mozote, many nearby residents were able to flee, some to
honduras, some wandering through the mountains.

andrea marquez was 23 years old when she fled the small
village joya de meanguera with her 24 month old son in her arms.
marquez told ips she walked for eight days until she realised her
son had died from a bullet to the head.

still severely effected by the tragedy, marquez lived for two
years in a cave by a river, surviving on herbs and raw fish.  she
fled every time someone approached, fearing they might be
soldiers.

finally, some fmln guerrillas found her and brought her to
colomoncagua, one of the honduran refugee camps housing displaced
salvadorans.

in 1990, over 10,000 refugees returned to el salvador from
colomoncagua to found the city of segundo montes, near the ruins
of el mozote.  amaya and marquez were among them.

marquez, prematurely aged -- with no teeth and a vacant stare
-- works as a guard in the community. (more/ips)
----


el salvador: (3)

amaya, who is now 51 years old, remarried and has a child by
her second husband.  she spends most of her time quietly at home
with her new family and memories of those killed 11 years ago.

amaya's testimony has still not been recognized by the
salvadoran justice system.  but news of the massacre, which has
always been minimized or denied by the government, is beginning
to spread throughout the international community.

in el mozote, the true witnesses and victims are emerging as
irrefutable accusors.  (end/ips/trd/so/pi/vh/eli/92)
----



** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **

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