Press

Human rights advocates claimed a victory after a federal judge in Boston said he would consider a former El Salvadoran military colonel's alleged war crimes before sentencing him on separate immigration charges.

This essay will examine some new developments in the case of one of the most notorious war crimes committed by the Salvadoran security forces during the twelve year long civil war: the massacre on the campus of the José Simeón Cañas University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador on November 16, 1989. This is an immensely important issue because it could begin to balance the dialectic between impunity and accountability to the side of accountability. For the first time, a high-ranking army officer may soon be tried for this crime.

Inocente Orlando Montano pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to immigration authorities so that he could stay in the United States, a development that could aid Spanish authorities who are seeking to have him extradited to that country, to face charges that amount to war crimes.

CJA has confirmed that the formal extradition requests from the Spanish Government have arrived in El Salvador, with simultaneous transmittal to the United States likely, for fifteen former members of the Salvadoran military, including members of the high command. The defendants have all been charged with conspiracy to assassinate and the assassination of 5 Spanish Jesuits and 3 Salvadoran citizens. Of these requests, 13 are for defendants in El Salvador, and 2 are for defendants in the United States