Still seeking justice for Oscar Romero
Tutela Legal, the human rights office of the archbishop in El Salvador, and the Center for Justice and International Law presented a petition before the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights today. The two human rights groups were denouncing the Salvadoran government for its failure to comply with prior recommendations of the Commission concerning the 1980 assassination of archbishop Oscar Romero. The Commission had previously expressed its view that the Salvadoran government needed to thoroughly, expeditiously and impartially investigate Romero's murder.
The representatives of the Salvadoran government argued (as they have been arguing for the past 15 years), that there was already a judicial process which convicted one person, Colonel Saravia, and that the amnesty law passed after the 1992 Peace Accords was necessary for the consolidation of the benefits of peace and progress forward following the end of the war. The government asserted that the petitioners were primarily interested in scoring political points through their petition.
You can watch a video of the entire hearing at this link(in Spanish).
The representatives of the Salvadoran government argued (as they have been arguing for the past 15 years), that there was already a judicial process which convicted one person, Colonel Saravia, and that the amnesty law passed after the 1992 Peace Accords was necessary for the consolidation of the benefits of peace and progress forward following the end of the war. The government asserted that the petitioners were primarily interested in scoring political points through their petition.
You can watch a video of the entire hearing at this link(in Spanish).
Comments
a) The treaty is the law of the land, yet:
b) There is a law that directly contradicts the treaty
c) The executive power cannot violate the law on b) for obvious reasons
d) The judiciary, which could declare the law on b) inconstitutional, has not done it
e) The Assembly, which could repeal the law on b) has not done it
What's a poor nincompoop executive to do?
El Salvador's ambassador to the OAS, who participated in the hearing, claimed that the government's posture is that Romero is "revered" ("lo veneramos"). While these steps are certainly inadequate and insufficient, it IS heartening to see a Salvadoran government begin to acknowledge Romero, after years of official silence.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/10/el-salvador-defends-amnesty-laws.php
-Qiuvo
Additional Roque Dalton poems have been uploaded to http://www.qiuvo.com
El Salvador defends amnesty laws
Lisl Brunner at 9:26 AM ET
El Salvador defended its 1993 amnesty law in a hearing [recorded video] Wednesday before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] dealing with the country's failure to investigate the 1980 murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero [BBC backgrounder]. Representatives of the Salvadoran government maintained that the amnesty law has prevented compliance with a 2000 IACHR report [text] recommending that the state investigate the archbishop's death, of which the IACHR declared El Salvador responsible. The government defended the law, saying that it allowed the country to make a peaceful transition to democracy after its 1980-1992 civil war [PBS backgrounder].
Romero was assassinated by a death squad while saying mass in San Salvador. An outspoken critic of the military junta, his death is viewed as one of the catalysts of the war, which left over 70,000 people dead. In 2004, a federal court in the United States held Alvaro Saravia liable [CJA case backgrounder] for Romero's murder and ordered him to pay $10 million in damages to the archbishop's family. While other suits have been brought [JURIST report] against former Salvadoran state agents in US courts, human rights groups contend that the amnesty laws [ISP report] have undermined the rule of law and led to impunity in El Salvador. El Pais has more.