Notes (con't)

⁴²⁵ The Commission interviewed witnesses and reviewed relevant documents from both confidential and public sources. To protect confidential sources, these are not quoted in this report.

⁴²⁶ A witness maintains that, when they took this attitude, Zamora began to get up to leave and the meeting was on the verge of ending. Another leader, however, suggested that not everything in the document was necessarily true; after that, the meeting continued and the PDC political position became more flexible, at least as far as the document submitted to the armed forces was concerned.

⁴²⁷ FPL leader who committed suicide in Managua.

⁴²⁸ Napoleon Duarte was the most important leader of the Christian Democratic Party and his leadership extended beyond the party. He was a candidate for President with the Alliance in 1972, then exiled to Venezuela, a member of the third Revolutionary Junta, Provisional President in 1980 and finally elected President from 1984 to 1989. He died in 1989 after a long illness.

⁴²⁹ The accusations were made in paid advertisements on television and in the press and in speeches broadcast on radio and television.

⁴³⁰ Aronette Zamora is the current leader of the Unión Democrática Nacionalista (UDN) Party.

⁴³¹ Rubén Zamora was also a Christian Democratic leader at the time. He then left the party and was one of the founders of the Movimiento Popular Social Cristiano (MPSC).

⁴³² The line was dead for approximately 15 minutes.

⁴³³ The Commission received testimony about the incident. This included testimony from people who corroborated the statements of the surviving witnesses. The Commission went to the village of San Juan Opico and made various inquiries.

The military authorities that were asked by the Commission to provide information did not do so. The Artillery Brigade informed it that it did not have the relevant file. Not all the officers summonsed appeared before the Commission.

⁴³⁴ Slang name given to villagers who collaborated with the security forces or the military by providing them with information about activities going on in the area or the personal activities of villagers. During these operations, they accompanied the soldiers and pointed people out to them.

⁴³⁵ By law, it is the justice of the peace who must make the preliminary inquiries, that is conduct a medical examination of the victims' bodies, assisted by a forensic expert, order the bodies handed over to the families for burial and take the first statements from witnesses.

⁴³⁶ The Commission received public information from governmental and non-governmental sources and from individuals.

⁴³⁷ An attempt was made on 23 September, when Viera and Francisco Menjívar, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, were gunned down in front of the UCS offices in Nueva San Salvador. Viera was wounded and his companion killed.

⁴³⁸ A review of existing testimony and other evidence, including the confessions of the two gunmen, statements by witnesses and by other members of the Intelligence Section of the National Guard and information received from governmental and non-governmental authorities, provides sufficient evidence that the events occurred as described below.

⁴³⁹ Statement by José Dimas Valle Acevedo, 23 August 1982, f. 793. Also 23 September 1982, f. 831.

⁴⁴⁰ He was nicknamed "fosforito".

⁴⁴¹ Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 793.

⁴⁴² Statement by José Luis Sánchez, 18 August 1982, f. 755. See also statement by Amílcar Ruiz Linares, 19 August 1982, f. 757. A statement by Roque González, 19 August 1982, f. 758, indicates that López Sibrián usually carried an Ingram or a sub-machine-gun.

⁴⁴³ Statement by Captain Eduardo Avila, 21 September 1982, f. 806. Statement by James Kevin Murphy, 30 October 1986. Statement by Gordon Fitch Ellison, 30 October 1986. A hotel employee also remembers having heard these words, although he did not make a statement to the judicial authorities.

See also statement by Teresa de Jesús Torres, 9 June 1981, f. 481. She noted that Christ's group made derogatory comments about Viera's group.

⁴⁴⁴ Statement by Avila, f. 806.

⁴⁴⁵ Statements by James Kevin Murphy and Gordon Fitch Ellison, 30 and 31 October 1986, regarding what Avila told both of them when he was given the lie detector test on 21 September 1982 at the General Staff. See also the statement by Torres, 24 June 1981, f. 480.

⁴⁴⁶ Statement by Torres, f. 481.

⁴⁴⁷ Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 793.

⁴⁴⁸ Ibid.

⁴⁴⁹ Statement by Gómez González, 23 August 1982, f. 760. Statement by Uribe López, 27 August 1982, f. 767.

⁴⁵⁰ Statement by Gómez González, f. 760. See also statement by Uribe López, 29 September 1982, f. 887.

⁴⁵¹ Statement by Gómez González, f. 760. He said he did not believe that López Sibrián had actually consulted Morán since López Sibrián had returned so quickly. Uribe López said that López Sibrián had been away for only three minutes. Statement by Uribe López, f. 887.

⁴⁵² Statement by Gómez González, f. 760.

⁴⁵³ Statement by Gómez González, f. 760. Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 794.

⁴⁵⁴ Statement by Gómez González, f. 760. Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 794. Other statements indicate that Avila handed over a 9-millimetre weapon. See, for example, statement by José Dagoberto Sambrano to the Commission for the Investigation of Criminal Acts on 29 October 1986.

⁴⁵⁵ Statement by Gómez González, f. 760. Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 794. Both González and Valle Acevedo identified photographs of Hans Christ as the person who had taken them to where the victims were.

⁴⁵⁶ Statement by Gómez González, f. 760. Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 794. Statement by Torres, f. 482.

⁴⁵⁷ Marroquín Lara, the waiter who actually saw the two men shooting, told a witness that immediately after the murder, one of the gunmen stood over Viera's head and fired several bullets directly into it. Statement by Carlos Alfredo Portillo Morales, 11 June 1982, f. 717.

⁴⁵⁸ The gunmen thought the house was Avila's, but Avila said that it was his brother's. See statement by Avila, f. 86.

⁴⁵⁹ Statement by Valle Acevedo, f. 794. Statement by Gómez González, f. 760.

⁴⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁴⁶¹ Statement by Sánchez on f. 755. Statement by Salvador Raymundo, 19 August 1982, f. 789. See also the interview with Valle Acevedo in the Commission for the Investigation of Criminal Acts, 24 January 1986, and the interview with Sánchez by that Commission on 27 January 1986. The day after the murders, Gómez González told him that he had killed Viera, but Sánchez could not recall any more details of the conversation because he took it as a routine matter typical of the missions entrusted to them.

⁴⁶² Avila was summonsed before the Commission on the Truth but did not appear.

⁴⁶³ Morán was summonsed before the Commission on the Truth but did not appear.

⁴⁶⁴ This instruction was given in the course of apparently aggressive and harsh interrogations involving threats, deprivation of food and use of drugs to which both Valle Acevedo and Gómez González alleged they were subjected.

See interview with Valle Acevedo and Gómez González in the Commission for the Investigation of Criminal Acts, 24 January 1986, para. 3.

⁴⁶⁵ On 17 September 1982, Morán was questioned by the Medrano commission. On that occasion, he said that he had never seen López Sibrián about the matter and that there had been no discussion about the perpetrators. He then said that although he "definitely" knew Gómez González, he could not remember whether Gómez González had been his bodyguard on the night of the murders.

Statement by Denis Morán, f. 790. There is no question that Gómez González was Morán's bodyguard on the night of the murders.

⁴⁶⁶ His ginger hair was dyed black, his moustache was shaved off, he wore make-up, he was in uniform and he had a hat like the others.

⁴⁶⁷ López Sibrián remained in the armed forces until President Duarte, under pressure from the United States Government, discharged him on 30 November 1984. He was then arrested for running a kidnapping ring and is still in prison. López Sibrián has consistently maintained his innocence, even to the Commission on the Truth.

⁴⁶⁸ The Commission could not locate Mr. Christ to request him to appear before it.

⁴⁶⁹ The Commission received information from various sources concerning the execution of mayors by FMLN. In the two cases which are described in detail, the Commission received from witnesses direct testimony which it proceeded to substantiate. With regard to the other cases, it requested information from FMLN; in its reply, the latter conceded that the execution of mayors was a policy approved by FMLN, and it supplied the names of some of the mayors who had been executed.

⁴⁷⁰ FMLN, La legitimidad de nuestros métodos de lucha, El Salvador, Central America, 30 October 1988, p. 15.

⁴⁷¹ The Commission reviewed the trial records, interviewed the accused and requested information from both FMLN and the Government.

⁴⁷² In order to prove to the Commission that there was a directive from the General Command that advisers and military personnel should be considered legitimate targets, FMLN supplied the following information: (a) a list of names of United States advisers and military personnel killed in El Salvador between February 1983 and March 1987; (b) copies of reports in the newspaper Venceremos (official FMLN newspaper) concerning United States intervention in the armed conflict and the death or execution of some of those advisers; and (c) a copy of a press release containing a statement by United States Senator Edward M. Kennedy. According to the press release, the Senator was concerned at the number of United States advisers and military personnel assigned to the country. The statement was dated 1990.

⁴⁷³ According to the statements made by Juan Miguel García Meléndez and Abraham Dimas Aguilar in trial No. 42/86 before the First Military Court, they had only very general prior knowledge of the attack before it was carried out.

⁴⁷⁴ According to information from the testimony on ff. 365 and 531 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁷⁵ According to cross-checking of the testimony on ff. 343, 365, 449, 485 and 531 of the trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁷⁶ According to cross-checking of the statements on f. 8 from trial dossier No. 67/A-89 of the Fifth Criminal Court.

⁴⁷⁷ During trial No. 42/86 in the First Military Court, witnesses made the following statements: the shots were coming from all sides (f. 46); the first shots were fired by a United States marine sitting in the Flashback restaurant and he was the one who shot the guerrilla (f. 365); one American was carrying a firearm at the time (ff. 155 and 449); one marine had a firearm in his hands at the time (f. 453); the shot which wounded the guerrilla was fired by one of the marines (f. 512); one individual fled through the rear of Chili's restaurant (f. 531).

⁴⁷⁸ In addition to testimony asserting that there was cross-fire, we find, attached to ff. 48, 305 and 308, reports concerning 34 spent cartridges found inside the Mediterranée and Chili's and the results of examinations of vehicles which were at the scene at the time of the attack. The latter established that two vehicles, one of them the attackers' vehicle, had bullet holes in their bodywork.

⁴⁷⁹ Ff. 2 to 23 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁸⁰ According to the police report on f. 139 and witnesses' statements in ff. 453 and 531 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁸¹ Police report on f. 139 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁸² F. 285 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁸³ La Prensa Gráfica, 22 June 1985; f. 357 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

FMLN leaders maintained that the categorization of the executed United States marines as a military target had been the responsibility of members of the commando who planned the action. The latter, they said, had sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the four United States marines were in El Salvador to carry out military intelligence work. The information was obtained by means of:

1. Full-time personal monitoring of the activities of each marine;

2. Radio intercepts of the armed forces communication system; they said that the names of the executed persons came up constantly in these communications.

The Commission asked for written evidence to back up the statements, but was informed that they were not in a position to provide such material since, owing to the nature of the action and the fact that it had taken place during a conflict, it was extremely difficult to have documentation regarding that type of decision.

FMLN also informed the Commission that, in the subsequent evaluation of the operation, it had been determined that the commando had erred in the "choice of place" because the possibility that civilians might be endangered had not been taken into consideration. For that reason, orders had been issued to suspend attacks on that type of objective in similar places.

⁴⁸⁴ Ismael Dimas was interviewed by Radio Venceremos of FMLN the week after the attack. His pseudonym was "Ulises". In the interview, he acknowledged having been the military chief who directed the operation and one of those who fired on the marines. This is corroborated by the information provided by the Government of El Salvador, FMLN and the witnesses who were interviewed. According to the information obtained as a result of the Commission's investigation, Ismael Dimas died later in combat.

⁴⁸⁵ In this extrajudicial confession, the defendants also confessed to having participated in a series of incidents that they said took place between 1979 and 1985, but did not give any places or specific dates (ff. 108, 122 and 130 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court).

⁴⁸⁶ For example, at the trial, no judicial statement was taken from the defendants. Instead, there is a document "confirming" the statements they had made to the National Guard. The document does not specify what statements the defendants had made and had therefore confirmed.

⁴⁸⁷ The 1987 Amnesty Act was enacted in October 1987 by Legislative Decree No. 805.

⁴⁸⁸ F. 742 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁸⁹ F. 752 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court. His appeal was rejected on the grounds that he was not a party to the criminal proceedings.

⁴⁹⁰ F. 770 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court. Several newspapers published the reactions of United States officials who warned that it jeopardized $18.5 million in aid to El Salvador which was in the process of being approved by Congress.

⁴⁹¹ F. 770 of trial dossier No. 86 of the First Military Court.

Under Salvadorian law, in certain situations the General Command of the Armed Forces acts as a special court. When the decision regarding amnesty was brought to that court, it determined that the Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism Taking the Form of Crimes against Persons and Related Extortion that are of International Significance and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, were applicable to the case.

⁴⁹² F. 937 of trial dossier No. 42/86 of the First Military Court.

⁴⁹³ There is insufficient evidence for the Commission to be able to say whether or not he participated in the operation. As in the case of the other defendants, he too, at his trial, was denied the benefit of the National Reconciliation Act.

⁴⁹⁴ Andrade was arrested in 1989. FMLN leaders say that he was responsible, inter alia, for having given Government forces information about the biggest arms shipment ever seized from FMLN during the conflict. FMLN considers Andrade a traitor for having revealed this information to the Government of El Salvador and the United States Government, which he did while under arrest.

⁴⁹⁵ To investigate this incident, the Commission interviewed some 70 individuals, many of them confidentially. The Commission has checked the information provided by witnesses against that obtained in other interviews and against court, police, newspaper, governmental, non-governmental and private sources.

⁴⁹⁶ In his first two statements, Miranda said that his pseudonym was "José". On 3 February 1988, Miranda identified Romualdo Alberto Zelaya, who died on 27 January 1988 in a clash with National Police, as "José". F. 750.

⁴⁹⁷ The number of men involved has been confirmed by what several witnesses saw. Vicente Vazquez and José Mejía saw the driver of the pick-up truck first, and a few minutes later saw two people boarding the same vehicle. Manuel de Jesús Serrano observed two individuals sitting on the sidewalk of the parking lot minutes before the murder. Aminta Pérez saw two individuals by a lamp post next to the parking lot minutes before the murder. F. 187.

⁴⁹⁸ F. 94N, letter from Noé Antonio González, ballistics expert, to the chief of the CIHD Unit, 1 November 1987.

⁴⁹⁹ F. 96N, letter from Noé Antonio González, ballistics expert, to the chief of the CIHD Unit, 1 November 1987.

⁵⁰⁰ The National Police informed the Commission that ballistics experts do not have information on armed forces ammunition. See letter from the Director-General, Francisco Salinas, 23 February 1993.

⁵⁰¹ Anaya was the fourth member of CDHES-NG to be murdered; three of them had disappeared. See Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Underwriting Injustice: AID and El Salvador's Judicial Reform Program, April 1989, p. 135.

⁵⁰² One of the five factions in the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN).

⁵⁰³ See testimony of Herbert Anaya, 7 March 1986.

⁵⁰⁴ See f. 508N, note by Corporal Adán de Jesús Morán Rivera, 26 May 1986. Complaint by Mirna Perla de Anaya to the Archdiocesan Legal Protection Office, 27 May 1986. He was one of a number of people belonging to popular organizations whom the Treasury Police arrested around that time.

⁵⁰⁵ F. 527, statement by Herbert Anaya, 8 July 1986. Anaya says that he was subjected to physical and mental ill-treatment during his detention. See testimony of Herbert Anaya, 7 March 1986.

⁵⁰⁶ See, for example, the paid announcement placed by Christian Legal Aid in El Mundo on 27 October 1987, "CGT también condena asesinato" (CGT also condemns murder), El Mundo, 27 October 1987. Paid announcement placed by the Human Rights Commission (governmental) in La Prensa Gráfica, 27 October 1987. Paid announcement placed by the Danish and Swedish sections of Amnesty International in El Mundo, November 1987. Paid announcement placed by the Danish and Swedish sections of Amnesty International in El Mundo, November 1987. P. Glickman, "El Salvador: US Mildly Condemns Rights Figure's Assassination", 26 October 1987.

⁵⁰⁷ El Diario de Hoy, "50 mil colones ofrece Duarte por Asesinos de Anaya" (Duarte offers 50,000 colones for Anaya's murderers), 26 October 1987.

⁵⁰⁸ Members of ERP confirmed that he was a member of that organization.

⁵⁰⁹ Interview with Miranda. F. 677, statement by Officer Miguel Antonio Pineda Varela of the Technical Operations Department of the National Police, 18 January 1988.

⁵¹⁰ According to newspaper reports, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not visit him until 4 January, after the initial period of 72 hours in detention was over. See D. Farah, "Salvadoran Expands on Role in Killing; Prisoner Rebuts Family, Reaffirms Rebels Ordered Rights Death", The Washington Post, 8 January 1988, see also f. 775, Miranda's retraction before the court.

⁵¹¹ F. 708. He does not remember when and said it had no effect. F. 775, Miranda's retraction. He told the Commission that once he had been given one or two tablets which he could not identify.

⁵¹² See "Samayoa Denies Miranda Bribed", translation and transcript of a report by Guevara, M. A., Canal 12 Televisión, 8 January 1988, in Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), 12 January 1988, p. 12.

⁵¹³ See D. Farah, "Salvadoran Expands on Role in Killing", The Washington Post, 8 January 1988. J. LeMoyne, "Salvadoran in Jail Talk, Tells of Assassination", The New York Times, 8 January 1988. M. Miller, "Jailed Salvadoran Student Tells Disputed Version of Killing of a Rights Activist", The Los Angeles Times, 9 January 1988.

⁵¹⁴ Interview with Miranda. See also f. 708. According to Miranda, those same people took the comforts away when he retracted his statement. The former Minister of Justice has denied that members of the National Police were able to visit him, stating that the only people who were able to visit him were those whom Miranda agreed to see.

⁵¹⁵ The then Minister of Justice, Julio Samayoa, attributed the delay to the fact that court personnel were on holiday and therefore the defendant could not be handed over. See: "Duarte Comments on Case", translation and transcript of a report by M. A. Guevara, Canal 12 Televisión, 6 January 1988, in FBIS, 12 January 1988, p. 11; recording of the press conference. President Duarte stated that the delay was permissible because Miranda had been arrested for one offence and his participation in the murder had emerged later. See El Diario de Hoy, "Dice Reo Confeso: el ERP 'Purgó' a Anaya Sanabria Para Culpar F.A." ("Prisoner confesses: ERP 'purged' Anaya Sanabria in order to put the blame on the armed forces"), 6 January 1988. Recording of the press conference.

⁵¹⁶ Judge Luis Edgar Morales Joya fled El Salvador after an attempt on his life on 9 August 1991.

⁵¹⁷ See f. 775.

⁵¹⁸ F. 937N. The judge's decision reads as follows: "There is no doubt that ... the confessions of the accused ... do not meet the intrinsic requirements of any confession ...". He found that Miranda's statement was "the only incriminating evidence against him" and was thus not sufficient to move on to the adversary stage.

⁵¹⁹ F. 943-53. It argued that the confession "is sufficient evidence because it is consistent with the facts and with the accounts given by [three] witnesses" and because "it has not been established in the trial that the defendant confessed because he had been tortured, and the [first] two confessions are consistent with one another. See f. 951.

⁵²⁰ In July 1991, the First Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice reported a decision to change the venue of the trial to the Fifth Criminal Court of San Salvador, f. 1046. It had already been transferred to the Mejicanos Criminal Court.

⁵²¹ F. 1133. Civil penalties - the payment of 20,000 colones in compensation to Mirna Perla, Anaya's widow, and the corresponding loss of a number of political and civil rights - were also imposed. With respect to Anaya's murder, the judge decided to leave the final decision, on whether or not to apply the Amnesty Act, to the Commission on the Truth.

⁵²² The Commission dismisses, for lack of evidence, the theory that the murder was an ordinary crime.

⁵²³ It is necessary to take into account how much time had elapsed between the murder and the time the photos were shown, and the fact that the witness only caught a glimpse of the murderers.

⁵²⁴ Moreover, according to a lie detector test carried out by CIHD on 1 January 1988, Miranda was not lying when he said that he had participated. F. 889.

⁵²⁵ The Archdiocesan Legal Protection Office has claimed that the armed forces were responsible. Americas Watch expressed concern that the murder might point to a reactivation of the death squads. L. Gruson, "Killing in Salvador Imperils Peace Talks", The New York Times, 28 October 1987. "La viuda de Anaya culpa a la Policía de Hacienda" (Anaya's widow blames the Treasury Police). "Dirigentes del ERP también culpan a las fuerzas armadas salvadoreñas, o a escuadrones de la muerte" (ERP leaders also blame the Salvadorian armed forces or death squads for the murder).

⁵²⁶ According to a colleague at CDHES-NG, Anaya reported that while being held by the Treasury Police he had received a death threat from a senior officer of that force. In Mariona, Anaya was warned by a prisoner that prison guards were saying that they would kill him once he got out. F. 694, statement by Reynaldo Blanco in the First Criminal Court, 6 February 1988.

Anaya's father was arrested by the National Guard in March 1987 and interrogated about his son's activities. Anaya denounced his father's detention publicly. F. 707, paid advertisement in El Mundo, 21 March 1987.

After his release from Mariona, complained that he was being watched constantly by unknown persons, including some people using a vehicle with the registration number P-50-200. F. 702, paid advertisement by CDHES-NG on 3 June 1987. It never received an answer from the security forces to its request for information about the vehicle.

Radio Verdad, a clandestine right-wing station, denounced Anaya, apparently on 25 July 1987, as the "pernicious and corrupt head of the unofficial Human Rights Commission" and reported that "this Mr. Anaya, who does so much harm with so much disinformation about the country, will soon be exposed; Salvadorians must know who are the charlatans who head the groups which are seeking to destroy the Republic". F. 701, transcript of the broadcast.

On 3 August 1987, El Diario de Hoy reported that military intelligence had demonstrated the link between FMLN and humanitarian groups. According to the newspaper, a military source had said that "the people must know ... the real truth about the conflict in our country, but must not allow themselves to be misled by those false Salvadorians who are only doing grave harm to the population". F. 706.

⁵²⁷ F. 694, statement by Reynaldo Blanco, 6 January 1988.

⁵²⁸ A few months before the murder, CDHES-NG complained that some 10 heavily armed men had tried to force their way into its headquarters. F. 703, paid advertisement in El Mundo, 3 June 1987.

⁵²⁹ Letter from Mirna Perla de Anaya to Mr. Edmundo Vargas Carreño, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 15 April 1988. She also stated that the night before the murder, the house was watched by unknown persons in civilian clothing driving a blue pick-up truck and a silver-coloured Toyota limousine.

⁵³⁰ In addition to examining the contents of the judicial dossier, as well as publications and reports on the case, the Commission interviewed many witnesses. It also obtained part of Mr. Guerrero's personal files on the assassination of the Jesuit priests.

⁵³¹ He was one of the founders of the Partido de Conciliación Nacional in 1962 and a co-author of the 1952 Constitution, President of the Legislative Assembly (1962-1965), Minister for Foreign Affairs (1969-1971), Chief of Staff for the President (1982), PCN Presidential candidate (1984) and President of the Supreme Court (1984-1989).

⁵³² El Diario de Hoy, "Asesinan a balazos al Dr. Francisco José Guerrero" (Dr. Francisco José Guerrero shot to death), 29 November 1989.

⁵³³ Judicial statements by Víctor Manuel Rivera Monterrosa and Lilia del Milagro Avendaño de Guerrero.

⁵³⁴ Statement by Víctor Manuel Rivera Monterrosa, 1 December 1989. Folio 173 of the dossier.

⁵³⁵ Statement by witness Marcelino Antonio Hernández Ayala, 11 December 1989. Folio 228 of the dossier. Testimony of Manuel de Jesús Maldonado, on-the-spot police inspection, 28 November 1989, Folio 88 of the dossier. See also La Prensa Gráfica, "Asesinado ayer ex-presidente de la corte Dr. Francisco José Guerrero" (Dr. José Guerrero, former President of the Court, assassinated yesterday), 29 November 1989. Diario Latino (San Salvador), "Asesinan a 'Chachi' Guerrero" (Chachi Guerrero assassinated), 28 November 1989.

⁵³⁶ Police report. Folio 79 of the dossier.

⁵³⁷ Statement by Víctor Manuel Rivera Monterrosa, 1 December 1989. Folio 173 of the dossier.

⁵³⁸ Report on the forensic medical examination, undated. Folio 84 of the dossier.

⁵³⁹ Report of the Ballistic Technical Section of the National Police, 1 December 1989. Folio 168 of the dossier.

⁵⁴⁰ Ibid., statement by Otto René Rodríguez. Folio 145 of the dossier.

⁵⁴¹ Testimony of Elías Cruz Perla, police report. Folio 88 of the dossier. Statement by Marcelino Antonio Hernández Ayala. Folio 228 of the dossier. A number of spent cartridges were found some 20 metres behind Mr. Guerrero's car. Sketch of the site, folio 43 of the dossier.

⁵⁴² Examination of the body of Angel Aníbal Alvarez Martínez. Folio 8 of the dossier.

⁵⁴³ Examination, 4 April 1990. Folio 276 of the dossier.

⁵⁴⁴ Police report. Folio 168 of the dossier. The judicial dossier contains no information on the bullets that hit Erazo Cruz.

⁵⁴⁵ Testimony of Elías Cruz Perla to CIHD, 28 November 1989. Folio 88 of the dossier.

⁵⁴⁶ The paraffin test is a technical chemical analysis used to determine whether a person has fired a weapon. The test is based on the presence of nitrate products deposited on the back of the hands when a firearm is fired.

⁵⁴⁷ Statement by Erazo Cruz at the National Police medical clinic, 30 November 1989. Folio 153 of the dossier.

⁵⁴⁸ Accused's statement by Erazo Cruz, 5 December 1989. Folio 193 of the dossier. Erazo Cruz recanted these statements before the court and also before the Commission on the Truth. Furthermore, "Efraín" had no known ties to the guerrillas (see below).

⁵⁴⁹ Order for detention pending trial, 7 December 1989. Folio 219 of the dossier. The judge subsequently added the offences of causing grievous bodily harm, being a member of a subversive association and escape involving the use of violence (see below).

⁵⁵⁰ Accused's statement by Erazo Cruz, 7 February 1992 (folio 405 of the dossier) confirmed by his testimony before the Commission, 4 September 1992.

⁵⁵¹ Penal Code, article 152.

⁵⁵² Penal Code, article 171.

⁵⁵³ Penal Code, article 375.

⁵⁵⁴ Penal Code, article 480.

⁵⁵⁵ The charges of escape involving the use of violence and being a member of a subversive association remained pending in the Sixth Criminal Court. Then, at the end of July, the defence requested application of the National Reconciliation Act with a view to abatement of the criminal action at law relating to the subversive association charge. Article 1 of the Act states that amnesty shall be granted to all persons who participated in committing political crimes. Article 7 (c) of the Act states that in the case of accused persons whose cases are pending, the judge shall of his own motion decree a general dismissal of proceedings in favour of the defendants. The defence also requested the judge to order Erazo Cruz's release with regard to the charge of escape involving the use of violence. According to article 250, a person held pending trial shall be released when the penalty for the offence is a fine or a custodial penalty not exceeding a maximum of three years' imprisonment. The judge accepted the position of the defence and ordered a general dismissal of proceedings.

⁵⁵⁶ Statement by Erazo Cruz to CIHD, 4 September 1989.

⁵⁵⁷ El Mundo, "Hija de 'Chachi' Guerrero relaciona muerte de su padre con caso jesuitas" (daughter of Chachi Guerrero links her father's death with the Jesuit case), 30 January 1992.

⁵⁵⁸ Description of the incident by José Napoleón Duarte: Duarte: Mi Historia, pp. 185-186. This version does not contradict the accounts of the incident subsequently published by FMLN.

⁵⁵⁹ Originally the FMLN list contained the names of 34 people, nine of whom had disappeared after they were captured by Government forces. Likewise, in the active and secret negotiations, FMLN insisted on linking the release of Inés Duarte to that of 25 mayors and 96 war-wounded guerrillas (the latter finally totalled 101). It is important to mention the significant mediating role played by the Salvadorian church in the persons of Monsignor Rivera y Damas and Father Ignacio Ellacuría. The documents of FMLN and the Government of El Salvador likewise reveal clearly the mediating role played by Governments such as those of Colombia, Panama, Mexico and France, and by individuals such as Chancellor Willy Brandt and Hans Wischnewski of the Socialist International.

⁵⁶⁰ Translated from English. British Broadcasting Corporation, "Release of Duarte's Daughter and Other Hostages in El Salvador". Source: Radio Venceremos 0045 GMT, 25 October 1985.

Another piece of information indicating FMLN involvement is to be found in the account of a guerrilla who says:

⁵⁶¹ The Supreme Court referred to the Commission 30 cases involving the death of judges, but according to the information received, two of the judges had died of natural causes.

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Posted by USIP Library on: January 26, 2001
Source: UN Security Council, Annex, From Madness to Hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador: Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, S/25500, 1993, 239-252.