The following notes have been edited to correct errors and to add explanations and updates. Parenthetical notes and remarks from the original are enclosed in parentheses. Present day [2022] updates are italicized and enclosed in square brackets.
Thursday, 17 October 1991 9:00 AM - The Non-Governmental Human Rights Commission (CDHES)
Wanda introduces our group to the staff worker for the CDHES who is acting as our host this morning. He greets us graciously and begins his narrative of the work of the commission.
"Welcome to our offices. We are glad to have you here so that you can gain a truer picture of life in our country on the basis of what you will see and hear here, as well as through your meetings with other organizations.
"This human rights commission began its work on 1 April 1978, with the establishment of four objectives:
1. To advocate for respect for the physical and moral integrity of every Salvadoran;
2. To investigate and document human rights abuses;
3. To denounce violations of human rights, both nationally and internationally, through agencies such as the United Nations; and
4. To undertake activities directed toward public education about human rights. This last goal has not been fulfilled in its entirety.
"We've had to live through the sadness of having four of our members slain and three disappeared since we were established. In 1987 fourteen members were captured and tortured by the Treasury Police. Nine of these were released and five sent to Mariona Prison. Nonetheless, we have continued forward with our work. We have won recognition both national and international. Three times we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Humanitarian organizations assist us both morally and economically to continue the work.
"Currently we are restructuring the commission. We have divided into four areas: (1) Judicial and research area; (2) Press and denouncements; (3) Area of information, which has three sub-units - computers, statistics, and documentation; and (4) Administrative area.
"We are just beginning with an education plan, which will undertake the necessary work toward meeting our fourth objective. We also have a medical and psychological clinic for children who are victims of the war.
"Let me give you our analysis of the current situation. Since Cristiani took office two years ago, we have seen with considerable concern the number of violations in the three areas of human rights. In the first, the physical and moral violations, we have documented 4,212 assassinations. Of these, 3,679 are attributable to the armed forces and 20 to the FMLN. The rest are what we would call 'deaths under circumstances,' that is, persons caught in crossfire in a battle situation, where the death cannot be attributed to either side.
"One clarification - when the FMLN commits an error with killing a civilian, they send notes to us and accept responsibility. The army never admits that they have done anything. A recent example of this would be the infant who was killed in San Jose Las Flores. This is how we see human rights continually being violated. The army carries out bombing of the repopulations in a sophisticated manner, trying to cut off the people from their food supply by bombing fields and destroying crops. They are also more sophisticated with the assassinations.
"Under the current government's economic policies, it is important to note the high prices of the basic food basket and of medicines. So if someone dies of malnutrition or lack of medical attention, the government takes no responsibility, but they are in fact responsible indirectly for these deaths. The minimum wage is 705 colones ($88.13 [in 1991 dollars; $192.83 equivalent in 2022]) per month. Logically this shows the sophisticated way in which the majority of the population is oppressed. Because of the lack of food, and malnutrition among the children, people come home discouraged because they have no work and no food to eat.
"With all respect to you here, I must tell you that it is the government of the United States which is responsible for sixty-five thousand dead in our country. U.S. aid is responsible for the great number of assassinations. An organization unconnected with either the government or the popular organizations has done an economic analysis of our country and determined that a family of five, for minimum survival, requires 3,000 colones ($375.00) per month.
"We are also concerned about the death squads, which are structures of the military, and which are once again threatening labor unions and leaders of human rights organizations. Recently one of our former directors was abducted and questioned about each one of us. The house of one of our staff members was ransacked, and a photo of this former director was taken. We think that they will soon try to kill her as they would any member of the popular organizations.
"We all place great hope in the negotiations. This also means that we are facing the most critical months in the country. The military structures are not going to want at any time to lose their power. This was just demonstrated by the Jesuit case, and by the Arminia incident (the Death Well case), where fifteen military members were released after having killed over one hundred people.
"This shows how justice is failing in our country. There is also the case of Jorge Alberto Mirando, accused of killing Herbert Anaya. We have said from the very beginning that we do not think he is the one responsible. When all of our members were captured by the Treasury Police, they said that the first one they were going to kill was Herbert. This demonstrates the basic injustice in our country. In the Jesuit case it was very clear that the military was responsible. On the other hand, we put an attorney on Jorge's case, but that fellow was convicted."
Question: What is your view of and relationship with ONUSAL?
"The arrival of ONUSAL is excellent. It has not really affected how we view our work. ONUSAL is coordinating some of their work with us. We aren't speaking much about their work yet, because we understand that they are just getting their feet on the ground. If you ask me in five months, I could tell you more.
"On the other hand, given the history of our country, it is a shameful thing that ONUSAL has to be here. It is a shame to our government that ONUSAL has to be here because of what the government has done. This is the first time in the world that the UN has ever had to set up a human rights commission within a country."
Question: Will you share with us the story of your struggle.
"Some things are painful inside, not for hate or rancor, but when one sees injustice that one doesn't want to see happen to people. A friend came and asked me if I wanted to work with them. He said, 'You have to realize that at any moment you could be killed, but we think that you have the characteristics to work with us.' I am sometimes afraid that I will not be alive by the end of the year. What most involves me is love for neighbors, and we don't want this kind of life for our families.
"All of us who work here have some fear, but we will continue with the work. If something happens to us, others will come to take up the work. One learns to live with death nearby, to go to work with it and to sleep with it. But it is love for neighbor which motivates us.
"The day they killed Martin Ayala, I was going to the airport to pick up a colleague. I saw four guys in a car, and at first I thought that they had nothing to do with me. But I came around the corner of the U.S. embassy, and I thought that they were following me. So I took the long way around, and then I was sure that I was being followed. I drove to a bus stop where there were lots of people standing around, so that if they killed me, I could shout out that I was with the CDHES and have lots of witnesses. I think that this was a way to intimidate our whole organization. Often they will threaten one person, then kill another."
Question: Do you think that the case of the woman whose picture was taken might be intimidation rather than a direct threat?
"Since they have already questioned our former colleague about all of us, it could be a plan to assassinate or abduct her. There are not many security measures that we can take. We have said publicly that we do all our work openly and have nothing to hide. There are minimal things that we can do, like never going anywhere alone."
Question: Can ONUSAL help?
"We have reported this to them, and have alerted international organizations to be ready if anything happens."
Question: Is anything actively being done now to protect her?
"There is a campaign to send letters to the President, as was done for Mirtala [Mirtala López, human rights worker]. Some killings are very sophisticated. If a car comes along and kills you, who can say that the government did it? Or they claim that the attack was by common criminals."
Question: Do you think that reeducation of the military will really work? Will they really undertake reform?
"We look at the negotiations, with the formation of COPAZ and the Truth Commission. The Truth Commission will investigate the Romero case and other assassinations."
Question: Who will make up the Truth Commission?
"We don't know yet. The Secretary General of the United Nations must find people. We do know the make-up of COPAZ. Within this framework we look at reform of the military and dissolution of the Security Forces. There will be a National Police made up of members of both armies, but not those who violated human rights. We believe that there may arrive a time when violation by the army will not continue. But we are afraid there will be what we call a 'house of witches,’ because they don't want to give up power.
"We hear colonels talking the language of war. They may be at the negotiating table in New York, but they are still launching large military operations here. Then the FMLN responds. When the FMLN takes captives, they turn them over, but the army takes no prisoners. When FMLN combatants are captured, they are never turned over, but are disappeared.
"I would say that there is some hope, but reality often teaches us otherwise. Much will depend on the government of the United States to pressure the Salvadoran government to sign the accords. Someone has said that we must thank the FMLN. Because of their struggle, we are seeing that impunity may end and the justice system might begin to work. Presently the justice system works against the people. We have several folk sayings about this: 'Justice is like a cobra; it bites those without shoes;' and 'The law is like an elastic band; it is narrow on the poor, but it stretches for the rich.’”
Question: What is the motivation of the average soldier? Are they well paid, or are they on a power trip?
"Here you have to understand that our history is full of violations of human rights committed by the military. You must also understand our culture. The great majority of the soldiers are captured into the military. Or they are illiterate campesinos whose own necessity leads them into military service.
"See how they teach soldiers. The lieutenant says, 'This apple is square.' If the soldier says no, it is round, he is punished. This is the way they are taught; they must agree with the officers. They become totally subservient. The military structure says to them, 'All civilians are your enemy.’ So then you have this guy who has been trained this way, and is carrying a gun, which makes him feel more of a man – it is all part of machismo.
"Also concerning forced recruitment – even though the constitution requires military service of all over eighteen years of age, they recruit only among the poor. If you go up into San Francisco or Escalon, the army doesn't recruit there. Military service is often the only work that the young men can get.
"We know that U.S. advisors are here teaching people how to kill. Sometimes police come into our offices and make denouncements just to see what we are doing. I don't know if this is true, but I have heard that the jury on the Jesuit case was in the U.S. embassy at one point. If this is true, it makes one think a lot."
Question: Will you be involved in the education of the new police force?
"If they look to us to help, of course we will involve ourselves."
Question: Do you think that this will help?
"Yes, we think that it will be very fruitful. If you look at the current negotiations, there has been international pressure on the government. The very fact that the U.N. Secretary General called on Cristiani to go to the negotiations is helpful, because at first Cristiani said he wouldn't do it. The success of the negotiations depends on the good will and good intentions of the international community.
Question: Are you going to try to do anything more on the case of the man who has been convicted of killing Herbert Anaya?
"Attorneys are searching through the law for a mechanism to nullify this judgment.
Question: Is there an appeals process?
"Yes, through an appeal document."
Question: Concerning the clinic that you mentioned, are the children whom you treat the offspring of the killed and disappeared, or are they actual victims of violence themselves?
"This is a project for all children who are victims of war. They have problems such as fear at night. In working with children, we have found that we have to expand to working also with adults. These are children from the repopulations, out in the campo. We are hoping to put out a book describing the specific cases of these children.
"The greatest problem is the impact on the families of those persons who have been disappeared or tortured. This is something which cannot be erased from their consciousness. The practice of disappearing people we denounce as a deficiency in the culture. It is especially hard for the families to deal with, because they cannot have a wake or a funeral. The U.S. experienced this with the families of those who were missing in Korea and in Vietnam."
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