26 Members of Congress Call for Declassification of Records on Salvadoran Disappeared

Representatives call for declassification of U.S. files on human rights abuses during the Salvadoran civil war.

On August 15, 2016, United States Congressional Representatives Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Norma Torres of California delivered a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by 26 Members of Congress, calling for the declassification of U.S. military and intelligence files relating to forced disappearances and human rights abuses during the Salvadoran civil war.

Additionally, Representatives McGovern and Torres led a group of 21 U.S. lawmakers who signed a letter to Salvadoran President Sánchez Cerén calling for a national commission to investigate and resolve cases of forced disappearance in El Salvador.

The letters follow an April 2016 briefing in Washington D.C., hosted by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the House Central America Caucus, in which Salvadoran and Salvadoran-American family members of the disappeared told their stories in representation of the Our Parents’ Bones Campaign. Angelina Snodgrass Godoy, Director of the University of Washington Center for Human Rights’ Unfinished Sentences project, accompanied the delegation.

Washington State Representatives Denny Heck, Rick Larsen, and Suzan DelBene signed the letter to President Obama, while Seattle’s Jim McDermott signed both letters.

Read the official press release here, and the letters at the following links:

Letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, signed by Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Norma Torres (CA-35), Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Mike Honda (D-CA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), John Lewis (D-GA), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Denny Heck (D-WA), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Suzan DelBene (D-WA).

Letter to Salvadoran President Sánchez Cerén, signed by Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Norma Torres (CA-35), Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Mike Honda (D-CA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL).