Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Spain's National Court has invoked a special law to order the arrest and trial of 20 former Salvadoran military officers for the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter. Five of the six Jesuits were naturalized Salvadorans of Spanish birth. In announcing the charges, the Spanish court invoked its universal jurisdiction law, which says that some crimes are so grave they can be tried anywhere. Issuing an indictment May 20, Judge Eloy Velasco Nunez said El Salvador's juridical process "was a defective and widely criticized process that ended with two forced convictions and acquittals even of confessed killers." Among those he indicted were a former Salvadoran defense minister. A 1993 U.N. Truth Commission report said high-ranking Salvadoran military officials were responsible for ordering the murders and ordered a cover-up. The six priests and two women were murdered Nov. 16, 1989, at their residence on the campus of Central American University. A U.N. report concluded that units of the U.S.-trained Atlacatl battalion forced their way into the Jesuits' residence, ordered them into a garden, shot them and did away with witnesses, such as the housekeeper and her daughter. Before leaving, the soldiers scribbled graffiti blaming leftist guerrillas for the killing. In 1991, two Salvadoran officers were convicted of the murders and seven others were found innocent. The two officers were freed in 1993 as part of an amnesty in the peace agreement that ended the nation's 12-year civil war. In a 1992 New York news conference, Alejandro Artucio, an international observer for the International Commission of Jurists, called the Salvadoran jury verdict "arbitrary" and "absurd." He cited evidence that showed the involvement of some of those acquitted in the killing, including that certain soldiers shot specific people. Spain and El Salvador have an extradition treaty.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, are seen in a combination of file photographs taken in Chandler, Ariz., Oct. 10, 2024 and Evans, Ga., Oct. 4, 2024. (OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein and Octavio Jones, Reuters)
While we are going to continue to advocate for the dignity of the unborn, let’s admit Kamala Harris has Catholic cred on other important issues.
Jeannie GaffiganNovember 01, 2024
Mats Steen was known as Ibelin in the video game World of Warcraft (World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment/Netflix)
“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” presents the internet as a place where true connection is possible and limitations can be transcended.
John DoughertyNovember 01, 2024
A Homily for the Solemnity of All Souls, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinNovember 01, 2024
Cardinal McElroy shared his reflections on the synod with America Vatican correspondent Gerard O'Connell in this wide-ranging interview at the North American College in Rome.
Gerard O’ConnellNovember 01, 2024