Since 2009, survivors of human rights violations committed during El Salvador’s civil war have gathered each year to share their stories and demand justice for the crimes committed against them and their loved ones. This year, the Tribunal was celebrated in the community of Santa Marta in the department of Cabañas, target of a series of brutal scorched earth operations by the military of El Salvador during the 1980s, including the massacre of Santa Cruz, in which some 200 fleeing civilians were killed.
As a result of the violence, many community members sought refuge in Honduras, where they endured inhuman conditions in refugee camps and persecution by the militaries of Honduras and El Salvador. In addition to the testimonies of community members from Santa Marta, the Tribunal heard accounts of violations of labor rights, torture, and killings of unionists.
Survivors and eyewitnesses testifying about the violations in Santa Marta unanimously ascribed responsibility to retired Colonel Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez, at the time commanding officer of troops in the region. Now a sitting legislator, Ochoa Pérez gave a radio interview about his reaction to the Tribunal on March 27, claiming that he and his troops “carried out orders to clean the zone of guerrillas” and denying that any massacres occurred.
Organized by the Human Rights Institute of the Central American University and the Network of Committees of War Victims, and presided by a panel of international jurists and human rights advocates, the International Restorative Justice Tribunal closed with a resolution delivering symbolic verdicts in response to each testimony, as well as recommendations calling on national and international authorities to ensure justice and reparations for grave human rights abuses.
Santa Marta, March 28, 2014
Resolution of the 6th International Restorative Justice Tribunal in El Salvador
We are together once again, celebrating in joy and hope.
The Tribunal is honored to be in Santa Marta, an exemplary community of struggle, solidarity, and memory. You have welcomed us warmly, and we are grateful that you have taken us in and allowed us to share your stories.
We have long wanted to come here, because we knew of your history of resistance, suffering, and commitment to truth and justice.
The Tribunal has come in a spirit of peace, peace based in true justice, which becomes more real each time we open our hearts to share our personal and collective stories of struggle and strength with our communities. We believe that we will achieve this peace, and that the stories that we have heard here will be remembered not only as wounds that remain open, but also as examples of the courage and leadership of this community. As the motto of this Tribunal states, we hope to contribute to the healing of these wounds, and to the coming of peace.
We are grateful for the efforts of the victims and witnesses, who, inspired by a courageous sense of citizenship, have recalled and relived the events of the war. We are grateful as well to all those who have attended this event and collaborated in establishing the truth. We hope that this serves to support the process of strengthening the historical memory of Santa Marta, and that this has served as a space for connection between different generations, and, above all, for reflection and restoration.
Many of the acts recounted during this Tribunal occurred in the decade of the 1980s, during the civil war. Both human rights norms and international humanitarian law were in effect ruing this period. These legal norms are intended to protect the civilian population, but the actions of State of El Salvador violated them, primarily affecting the civilian population: children, women, old people, and unarmed people, attempting to justify these criminal acts under the name of “military operations” or “collateral damage,” when in reality they were war crimes, massacres, and crimes against humanity, carried out under the responsibility of the military command.
Now, more than twenty years later, the crimes described before this Tribunal remain in a state of impunity. The State of El Salvador has not complied with its national and international obligations to investigate, try, and sanction those responsible for these crimes; or with its obligation to provide holistic reparations for the victims of grave human rights violations committed against the community of Santa Marta since the 1980s.
However, this community knows its rights and has not stopped struggling to defend them, as we have seen in the testimonies presented here. Santa Marta is a heroic community, whose political leadership for the construction of a more just way of life continues today in their search for reparations and an end to impunity.
In consideration of these facts and the convincing evidence that we have received, the Tribunal insists that our decisions be considered by the Salvadoran authorities in compliance with their obligations, and we hope that the international community and civil society will be inspired in their own obligations to analyze, comprehend, and create mechanisms for addressing grave human rights violations and their terrible consequences.
Having received the complaints and testimonies of MARÍA JUANA LAÍNEZ RODRÍGUEZ, ADELA ESCOBAR HERNÁNDEZ and LUIS HERNÁNDEZ, the Tribunal declares the State of El Salvador responsible for the summary executions of CAYETANA HERNÁNDEZ, JOSEFA HERNÁNDEZ, JUANA HERNÁNDEZ, CATALINA HERNÁNDEZ, JUANA URBINA, PORFIRIO HERNÁNDEZ, MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ, LUIS HERNÁNDEZ, NEFTALÍ ALFARO and JOSÉ CABRERA, as well as that of a minor of approximately 7 years of age and a 17 year old youth who was burned alive. These acts took place during June 1980 in Los Planes and El Picacho, according to the statements of the witnesses, who report 22 victims.
Having received the complaints and testimonies of MARÍA GUADALUPE ALFARO and FRANCISCO HERNÁNDEZ, the Tribunal declares the State of El Salvador responsible for the summary executions carried out on June 18, 1980 in Santa Marta and the surrounding area, of ROSARIO ALVARENGA, her unborn child, PASTOR PORTILLO, FRANCISCO HERNÁNDEZ, MANUEL LEIVA y JOAQUÍN HERNÁNDEZ and for the torture of MARÍA GUADALUPE ALFARO.
Having received the complaints and testimonies of MARÍA ORBELINA LÓPEZ, MERCEDES MÉNDEZ and PHILIPPE BOURGOIS, the Tribunal declares the State of El Salvador responsible for the massacre of Santa Cruz during November 1981, with an undetermined number of direct and indirect victims including two children of MARÍA ORBELINA and her unborn child, JOSÉ SECUNDINO LÓPEZ, FELICIANA HERNÁNDEZ, ISIDRA LÓPEZ; and for the serious wounds sustained by MERCEDEZ MÉNDEZ.
Having received the complaints and testimonies of CELIA DEL CARMEN MASÍN CHÁVEZ the Tribunal declares the State of El Salvador responsible for the torture suffered by CELIA DEL CARMEN and her fellow unionists in October 1987; and for the deaths and injuries caused by the bombing of the offices of FENASTRAS on October 31, 1989, which caused the deaths of RICARDO CESTONI, ROSA SARAVIA DE ELÍAS, JULIA AGUIRRE, VICENTE MELGAR, JOSÉ MELÉNDEZ, LUIS VÁSQUEZ, FEBE VELÁSQUEZ, CARMEN HERNÁNDEZ and MARÍA ROSALES, wounded CELICA DEL CARMEN and injured many dozens more; and for the violation of the rights to free association and unionization.
Having received the complaint and testimony of FRANCISCO RIVAS GUEVARA, the Tribunal declares the State of El Salvador responsible for the torture suffered by FRANCISCO RIVAS in September 1981 in the municipality of Nejapa.
Having received the complaints and testimony of LUIS RIVAS, FRANCISCO LOPEZ y MARÍA REGINA GÁMEZ, the Tribunal declares the States of El Salvador and Honduras responsible for the torture of Luis Rivas during November 1981 in La Virtud, Honduras; and the torture and murder of Guadalupe Rivas in July 1982 in Mesa Grande, Honduras.
In consideration of the preceding, this Tribunal is resolved and assumes the responsibility to URGE
1. That the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of El Salvador speed the process of the constitutional challenge to the amnesty law.
2. That the Attorney General of the Republic of El Salvador immediately investigate all of the complaints and cases presented before the 6th Tribunal, in recognition of their status as crimes under national and international law, making use of all of the evidence presented here as well as additional evidence that may be found.
3. That the State of El Salvador, in collaboration with the United Nations, form an investigative commission to resume the work of the peace accords and the Truth Commission, repatriating its files so that the Salvadoran society may take advantage of them; and in a reasonable period take legal action in the Judicial Branch, in coordination with the Public Ministry, to interrupt the current state of impunity enjoyed by perpetrators in El Salvador.
4. That the Government listen to civil society, especially victims’ groups, and revise the executive decree for “Reparations program for victims of the armed conflict,” published in the Official Record on October 23, 2013, modifying the decree and implementing legal measures for holistic reparation, in accordance with Resolution 60/147 of the United Nations General Assembly, including: means of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and dignity for the victims, as a means to guarantee that these acts will not be repeated.
5. That the State of El Salvador, in particular the National Statistics and Census Office of the Ministry of Economy, initiate a registry of victims of the armed conflict this year, guaranteeing the inclusion of direct and indirect victims including unborn children, and those who died of hunger, sickness or wounds while fleeing military attacks, with the intention to provide reparations for physical, psychological, material, or moral damages suffered by victims; as well as recognizing their loss of the right to freely determine the course of their own lives.
6. That the State of El Salvador comply with all of the human rights commitments it has made to its population and to the international community, in particular to destroy all monuments dedicated to human rights violators, and to replace them with monuments that honor the memory of the victims of the armed conflict; and that all privileges and honors conceded to perpetrators be rescinded.
7. The investigation of the role of the media in its presentation of crimes committed against the civilian population by the States of El Salvador and Honduras as anti-guerrilla activities, particularly the operations carried out in Santa Marta.
8. That the State of El Salvador, and especially its Armed Forces, recognize its responsibility for the use of means of war which clearly violated the obligatory distinction between combatants and the civilian population, and which consequently resulted in the conscious violation of the right to life and physical integrity of countless defenseless children, women, men, and elderly people. In recognition of this, that the perpetrators publicly request forgiveness.
9. That the State of El Salvador investigate the responsibility of the Ministry of Labor for violations of union rights during the armed conflicto
10. That the State of El Salvador incorporate historical contents relating to the armed conflict into the national school curriculum, including its causes and the human rights violations which occurred.
11. That the State of Honduras recognize its responsibility during the war in El Salvador and, above all, investigate, judge, and sanction those responsible for the violation of the human rights of the civilian population which sought refuge in its territory, and that it promotes holistic reparations for the victims.
12. That the States of Honduras and El Salvador search for and identify the remains of Salvadoran citizens who died while refugees in Honduras, and that they be repatriated to El Salvador for dignified burial.
13. That the verdicts and recommendations of this Tribunal, as defined in previous sentences, all relating to justice and reparation, be carried out by the State of El Salvador and other institutions mentioned above.
The members of the 6th Tribunal give thanks and congratulations for the efforts of the Network of Committees of War Victims and the Human Rights Institute of the Central American University “José Simeon Cañas” (IDHUCA) for organizing the Tribunal annually since 2009, and in particular, thanks the organizations and people of Santa Marta who participated and contributed in this 6th International Tribunal for Restorative Justice in El Salvador.
José Maria Tomás Tío, President
Magistrate, President of the Foundation for Justice (Spain)
José Ramón Juániz Maya
Human Rights and Social Security Lawyer (Spain)
Sueli Bellato
Amnesty Commission of the Ministry of Justice (Brazil)
Carol Proner
Lawyer, Doctor of International Law, Unibrasil (Brazil)
Belisaro dos Santos
International Commission of Jurists (Brazil)
Paula Sofía Cuellar
History and Human Rights, University of Minnesota; LL.B., UCA; Masters in Human Rights, UNES (El Salvador)
Angelina Snodgrass Godoy
Director, University of Washington Center for Human Rights (United States)