rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (06/15/91)
The FAS (Salvadoran Armed Forces) Block CODEHUCA visits
to Repopulation Communities in El Salvador
On May 25th, 1991, in violation of Articles 3 and 5 of
the Salvadoran Constitution, and of the San Jose Accords
(signed in Costa Rica on July 26, 1990, by the government of
El Salvador and the Farabundo Marti Front for National
Liberation - FMLN), two delegations of CODEHUCA invitees were,
after having received official permission, physically
prevented by the FAS from visiting the re-population
communities of Nueva Trinidad, in the Department of
Chalatenango and Segundo Montes in the Department of
Morazan.
CODEHUCA (Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in
Central America) recently held its Annual Assembly in San
Salvador, El Salvador, May 23-26. The visit to Segundo
Montes was planned in order to participate in a legal forum
"First Forum in Memory of the Victims of Militarism in
Morazan", which was being co-sponsored by CODEHUCA. The
visits themselves were sponsored and led by CDHES, the non-
governmental Human Rights Commission of El Salvador.
It is important to note that the isolation of Segundo
Montes Community, that will be discussed in this document,
is by no means a unique case, but rather is a typical
example of efforts to isolate numerous similar communities
in El Salvador and Guatemala.
The physical and mental security, and the achievements
and aspirations of perhaps millions of repopulation and
internally displaced communities in El Salvador and
Guatemala are very much in danger.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
While the immediate violation of the law in this case
was that of the right to freedom of movement, in this
document we will show how the FAS are restricting the
freedom of movement of people and goods, so as to completely
isolate the repopulation communities.
IMPUNITY AND ISOLATION
This May 25 confrontation with the FAS, a small and
very regular occurrence, brought the CODEHUCA international
invitees face to face with the impunity of the FAS and made
very apparent to all present their intentions and efforts to
isolate these communities.
1- FACTS
On Saturday, May 25, 15 CODEHUCA delegates, together with four
busloads of Salvadorans law students and professors, were stopped
by the DM4 (Destacamento Militar no. 4) at a military roadblock set
up on the road to San Francisco de Gotera, in the Dept. of Morazan.
The group also included campesinos who wished to visit relatives in
the communities, as well as many women with small children and
babies.
Soldiers blocked the road and permission to continue was
denied. This also occurred to the CODEHUCA invitees that were on
their way to Nueva Trinidad, Chalatenango. CODEHUCA suspects that
both Departments received orders from the High Command, in San
Salvador, to not allow the invitees to enter into the repopulation
areas. However, we do not have direct proof of this.
Deputy Rodrigo Gutierrez, of the Costa Rican Legislative
Assembly, one of the CODEHUCA invitees, said: "We were never
detained or jailed. But, although we had permission to enter into
the Segundo Montes community, they did not allow to go by. At that
they point, they threatened to fire their machine-guns".
At a given point, after much discussion, Lieutenant Solis
Ramirez, of the DM4, authorized the group to continue on foot in
order to request permission for the visit directly from the DM4 in
San Francisco de Gotera.
"After negotiating for several hours, the FAS let us go by. We
walked some 500 metres, when we were quickly surrounded by soldiers
shooting machine-gun rounds above our heads. Then we decided to
turn around", said Deputy Rodrigo Gutierrez.(La Nacion, 27/05/91)
At this point the delegation returned to San Salvador to
present a denunciation, and give a press conference.
ONE CODEHUCA MEMBER WAS ABLE TO ARRIVE AT SEGUNDO MONTES
Only one member of CODEHUCA, who traveled alone, was able to
arrive at the Segundo Montes community, after having been stopped
at, questioned and passing through five military road-blocks. Thus,
CODEHUCA was able to participate in the First Forum in Memory of
the Victims of Militarism in Morazan, to investigate the living
conditions of the community, and to spend some time with the
people.
2- WHAT IS THE REPOPULATION COMMUNITY OF SEGUNDO MONTES (SM)
To understand the phenomenon of what the community of SM is
experiencing today, and why the FAS are so determined to keep
people from entering or leaving the community, one has to
understand the history of repression and struggle of the people of
El Salvador, in general, and of this region in particular.
For our purposes it is necessary to begin with the systematic
human rights violations committed by the military against the
civilian population in Morazan, that increased after the early
1980s, and particularly it is necessary to recall the massacre of
El Mozote.
THE EL MOZOTE MASSACRE LEFT AN ESTIMATED 1000 CIVILIANS DEAD
The Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean
(EPICA), based in Washington, gives the following summary of the
massacre, taken from "Condone the Killing: Ten Years of Massacres
in El Salvador", with an introduction by Senator Brock Adams. The
book was produced by EPICA, 1470 Irving St, NW, Washington, DC,
20010, (202) 332-0292. The information used by EPICA comes from
CODEHUCA and the CDHES, the non-government Human Rights Commission
of El Salvador).
"On December 7, 1981, the U.S.-trained Atlacatl Battalion,
commanded by Colonel Domingo Monterrosa, began a major military
operation against positions held by the Farabundo Marti National
Liberation Front (FMLN) in the Department of Morazan. During this
operation, called "HAMMER AND ANVIL", the Army massacred all of the
residents of the village of El Mozote as well as hundreds of people
from neighboring villages who had sought refuge there.
"Altogether, more than 1000 civilians were killed. The
majority of the victims were members of fundamentalist Protestant
Churches who felt that, because of their conservative beliefs, the
Army would not attack them.
"The survivor, RUFINA AMAYA, whose husband and four small
children were murdered, provided a description of the massacre. She
stated that the Army troops first fired mortars over the community.
Then they invaded the village and forced all the people to go to
the village square where they made them lie face down. Then the
soldiers took people out in groups, beginning with the men, most of
whom were elderly. The men were told that they were being taken to
the Lieutenant so that he could send them home. Instead they were
killed. The people who were still inside the houses heard the
machine-gun fire.
"Next the women and children were taken out of the houses. The
women were raped and then shot. While the soldiers were killing a
group of women, Rufina escaped and hid behind a bush. She heard the
screams of the people being shot, bayoneted and then burned. All of
the people in the town were killed.
"The Army officers responsible for the massacre were Colonel
Jose Rafael Flores Lima, Major Jesus Caceres Cabrera and Colonel
Domingo Monterrosa. No one has ever been charged or convicted of
the killings".
TESTIMONY OF RUFINA AMAYA - CODEHUCA has reproduced much of
Rufina Amaya's testimony, as given at the Forum, on May 26, 1991.
This is available from our offices, upon request.
COLOMONCAGUA
In the early 1980s, after this and other smaller massacres,
and due to generalized repression, thousands of Salvadorans fled to
Honduras, (amongst other destinations near and far, in and outside
of El Salvador) and lived in a refugee camp named Colomoncagua.
Through their own struggles, and with the support of the United
Nations and international solidarity organizations, many refugees
came back to their area of Morazan in 1990, to 'start again' their
lives.
3- THE FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY
One of the most remarkable things about the return of these
people to their communities is that, even though they live in
conditions of great economic and material suffering, and that they
live under the constant threat of political persecution, they
decided to proceed with a legal case against the perpetrators of
the El Mozote massacre. Even though nine years had gone by, their
need for justice to be done had not died.
On October 26, 1990, Rufina Amaya, with the support of Tutela
Legal of the Catholic Archbishop, the CEBES (the Christian Base
Communities of El Salvador), and the CSM (Community of Segundo
Montes) initiated criminal proceedings (una denuncia) in the El
Salvadoran courts, in San Francisco de Gotera, Depto. de Morazan,
concerning the December 1981 massacre.
THE CASE TODAY
Since October, 1990, an investigation commission was appointed
by the presiding Judge. Up to this point at least 40 persons have
given sworn affidavits. There have been some major problems: 1- the
presiding Judge of investigation decided to deal with the case on
a person by person basis, making it very hard to gather proof for
individual persons; 2- in some initial findings, the Judge
concluded that there was no proof that the "men dressed in green"
(as described by witnesses) were soldiers; and 3- access to the
actual area of the massacre is often blocked off by the FAS, making
it much more difficult to collect evidence.
This ignores the fact that there had been a military operation
in the area during those same days and it ignores direct testimony,
such as that of Rufina. Related to this issue, President Cristiani
did not respond to requests to provide the court with information
concerning the activities of the military units that were active in
that zone at that time.
4- EFFORTS TO ISOLATE THE COMMUNITY
In the context of the court case, the economic suffering, and
the persecution, this section will look at the efforts of the
military to isolate, in almost every way, the SM community.
A- THE MILITARY PHYSICALLY ISOLATES THE COMMUNITY
As was stated above, the CODEHUCA delegate had to pass through
five military road-blocks, undergoing questioning at each one with
respect to why he was going to the SM community, what he was going
to do there, etc. While this may be difficult enough for a
foreigner, for Salvadorans themselves it is far more difficult and
dangerous.
B- HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
The CEBES (Base Christian Communities of El Salvador) has a
number of human rights workers in the SM community that have
documented a long list of cases when members of the community have
been illegally detained and illegally captured at the military
road-blocks.
CODEHUCA reproduces a translation of parts of a recent CRIPDES
(Comite Cristiano Pro-Desplazados de El Salvador) publication,
dealing with human rights violations during the month of March,
1991. The purpose here, with the selected cases, is to give the
reader an idea of the type of military that all the repoblador
communtiies are experiencing. The examples are taken from the area
of Chalatenango.
CRIPDES: "There have been many victims of the FAS military
operations that have as their objective much more than the on-going
war with the armed insurgents. The military objectives are to
destroy the level of self-government that the repopulation
communities have achieved. The communties are providing for
themselves economic and social infra-structure, the very things
that the state should be providing, were it not so involved in the
continuation of an injust war."
"Alleging that they control all of the national territory,
soldiers of the most famous elite Batallions have invaded the
repopulation communities of Chalatenango, Usulutan, Morazan,
Cabenas, Cuscatlan, San Vicente, and other Departments, that are
considered to be zones in conflict. Destruction, physical damage
and killings are again be coming daily occurrences."
"Meanwhile the FAS are justifying their military operations,
accusing the people that they capture, wound or kill, of being
terrorists and subversives, and not taking responsibility for the
damage and suffering they are causing with their morter shells and
air-bombing attacks. ..."
"Impunity continues to serve as an umbrella for the actions of
the FAS, and particularly those of the Atlacatl Battallion ..."
MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST THE REPOBLADORES OF CHALATENANGO
February 26, 1991 - From the communtiy of Guarjila, in the city of
Chalatenango, Jose Elias Martinez (21) and Misael Ayala (26) were
captured by members of the Destacamento Militar 1 (DM1) while on
their way to get their voter registration cards. They were held for
7 hours, stripped, interrogated and acccused of being insurgents,
before being released.
February 28, 1991 - soldiers of the DM1 shot a morter shell into
the Gaurjila community. The house of Pantalion Galdamez and a
school were damaged.
March 1, 1991 - Atlacatl soldiers and DM1 soldiers built a military
road-block at the entry to the pueblo Hacienda Vieja, claiming that
they had received orders from the High Military Command that no one
driving from San Jose Las Flores would be allowed to go to Arcatao.
March 2, 1991 - The same soldiers shot morter and rocket shells
into the community of San Antonio Los Ranchos, destroying the
grazing fields of the cow herd of the community. In the afternoon
of the same day, some 100 morters and rockets were shot into the
communties of San Antonio los Ranchos and Guarjila. Again on the
same day, Atlacatl Batallion soldiers militarily occupied the
communities of Guarjila, Ignacio Ellacuria and San Jose los
Ranchos. They threatened the repobladores and accused them of being
members of the Insurgents. They also were asking them for which
party they were going to vote in the up-coming elections.
March 3, 1991 - At 7 a.m. from the military base SIERPE in
Chalatanango, the military shot morters into the community of
Guarjila. Wounded were Emilia bonilla Dubon (28), Angelica Cuellar
(42), Erik Bonilla (4) and Rodolfo Rivera Ramirez (8). Moreover,
many homes were damaged.
March 6-7, 1991 - At 8,30 a.m. from the military base SIERPE in
Chalatenango, soldiers shot morters into the community of San Jose
los Ranchos, and shot into the community from surrounding hills.
Sra Maria Mejia (50) and ana Aracely Menjivar (15) were wounded.
Roofs of a number of houses were damaged.
March 8, 1991 - the repoblador, Jose dolores Lopez, from the Los
Pozos communtiy of Nueva Trinidad, Chalatenango, was detained by
members of the Atlacatl Batallion in one of their road-blocks. The
soldiers had him detained, tied up, in the sun for three days. He
was only liberated after he had paid a fine.
Sr Lopez is an ex-political prisoner who was released from
Mariona prison in August 1990, after an illegal detention of 10
months.
March 10, 1991 - On election day, extra military road-blocks were
installed near to the repoblador communities of Las Vueltas, San
Antonio los Ranchos, San Jose las Flores and Guarjilla. All the
repobladores were carefully and painstakingly registered and
searched, while leaving their communities to vote. Many
repobladores were asked for which party they were going to vote.
They received an equal treatment when they went back into their
communities after voting.
March 19, 1991 - Maria Teresa Guardado (9), of the Guarjila, was
killed by members of the DM1 and the Atlacatl Batallion. She was
hit by a bullet from a machine-gun blast. She had been returning
from shopping with her mother in Chalatenango. She died on March
21, in the Chalatenango Hospital.
March 21, 1991 - Soldiers shot at and wounded Damien Sibrian (72)
when he was returning from his work in the fields. He is still in
the Hospital Rosales in San Salvador.
These are just a sample of abuses documented by CRIPDES. From
their offices, or from CODEHUCA, one can obtain the full document
of abuses committed against repopulation communities for the month
of March.
The abuses did not begin or end in March.
While CODEHUCA was in El Salvador, CRIPDES denounced that in
the repopulation community of "El Chacon", La Libertad, a campesino
was murdered and that three others were illegally captured in the
Dept. of San Vicente. GUSTAVO ROSA RAMIREZ was resting at his home
on Sunday, May 19, when he was shot, by civilian dressed persons,
three times in the back and three times in the head. He had
previously been captured on April 14, along with 7 other persons.
They spent 10 days in the jails of the National Police, accused of
being members of the FMLN. (Diario Latino, 21/05/91)
Due to the above cases, and many more, CRIPDES has presented
a formal denunciation before the ONUSAL (recently formed United
Nations Commission, with the mandate to investigate human rights
violations in El Salvador) with respect to the human rights
violations that the repopulation communities and marginalized zones
suffer.
On Saturday, May 25, three members of Tutela Legal (human
rights office of the Archbishop) were present as the detained
CODEHUCA delegates and Salvadorans tried to walk into the zone.
Tutela Legal was trying to moniter the situation that easily could
have had serious consequences. At a given point the Sergent said to
them "Either you take yourselves away from here or I will take
matters into my own hands".
VIOLATE HUMAN RIGHTS IN NAME OF WAR AGAINST FMLN
A common thread through all this military repression is the
constant accusation that the person or persons are a danger for the
national security, or is a member of the FMLN. This tactic of
accusing civilians of being collaborators with or members of the
FMLN has long been used by the FAS as an implicit excuse for the
violation of their rights.
This is in direct violation of their human rights, as
Salvadoran citizens, and the laws of war that protect civilians.
"Article 50 of Protocolo 1 provides that the "presence within the
civilian population of individuals who do not come within the
definition of civilians does not deprive the population of its
civilian character".
"The point of this provision ... is that "the presence of a
small number of off-duty combatants, or even some engaged in the
transaction of business for the armed forces within a community of
civilians would not subject that community to attack".(New Rules
for Victims of Armed Conflicts: Commentary on the Two 1977
Protocols Additional to the Geneva Convetions of 1949)"
(International Humanitarian Law and the Armed conflicts in El
Salvador and Nicaragua, Am.U.J.Int'l L. and policy, Vol 2:539,
pp.552-553)
C- FOREIGNERS
The efforts to isolate the communities not only focuses on
Salvadorans, but on foreigners as well. As explained at the outset,
thirty-five delegates of CODEHUCA were denied entry into the
communities of Nueva Trinidad and Segundo Montes. Moreover, when
the one CODEHUCA delegate, that was able to enter, was stopped at
the DM4 (one of the five road-blocks) he was asked if he were a
journalist. The Sergent in charge said "we are not allowing
journalists into the area".
While most foreigners are kept out, by denying them 'salvo
conductos' (salf conduct passes) or simply not allowing them to go
by, even with a salvo conducto, CODEHUCA did meet persons from
Northamerica and from Europe, who were visiting and working with
the SM community.
D- DON'T ALLOW THE REPOBLADORES OUT
Not only do the military prevent many persons from entering
the zone, but also to reinforce their isolation, the military
arbitrarily prevents repobladores from leaving the area. On May
1st, a number of trucks from SM were leaving their community to go
to San Salvador and participate in the traditional May 1 parade. At
a military road-block, they were denied passage for no reason.
While this was obviously a violation of their right to freedom
of movement, on a larger scale it is part of an effort to isolate
the communities and prevent Salvadorans from organizing with other
organizations if the FAS unilaterally decide that their intentions
are political.
E- DON'T ALLOW FREE MOVEMENT OF COMMERCIAL GOODS
Here, one sees the direct relation between the principle
violation of the right to freedom of movement, the isolation
efforts of the Military, and its impact on the basic economic and
social rights of the repobladores.
The military have prevented, on numerous occassions, trucks
carrying merchandise from leaving and entering the area. The
communities are prevented from commercializing their wares. The
repobladores are obliged to seek permission to take material and
alimentary goods into the zone. There are no fixed legal criteria.
They can be arbitrarily refused at any time leaving them with no
remedy against the arbitrary acts of the FAS.
CODEHUCA was told of numerous occassions when fertilizer was
confiscated from persons. Without fertilizer the people are limited
to cultivating the basic food products. On other occassions food
products such as oranges have been prevented from entering the
region.
F- SELF-DENIAL AND FEAR
On Saturday, May 25, in the afternoon, an elderly man, who had
returned from Honduras, pointed to the Rio Torola, down below in
the valley, and said "I don't go beyond that river there because I
am afraid of the military and other security forces". Due to all
the repression against the repobladores, the fear builds up to the
point that they don't want to leave the zone themselves.
G- IDENTIFICATION CARDS
The above mentioned persecution against the repobladores is
made very easy for the military because all Salvadorans that have
returned from other countries, have identification cards that set
them off as returning refugees. The military has long considered
that these persons are linked, as collaborators or members, to the
subversives, and have made them targets of their repression.
As soon as the military personnel at the check-points see one
of these tell-tale identification cards, their behaviour hardens,
and some sort of pressure is sure to follow, from simple
harrassment to illegal detentions and captures, torture, and even
disappearances.
5- IMPUNITY
In considering the above mentioned systematic isolation, the
notion of impunity must be analysed and criticized. The desire to
isolate the communities is protected by the umbrella of impunity,
that guarantees that the FAS will not be prosecuted for humanrights
violations. The systematic violation of human rights pushes the
victims, in this case the repobladores, to fight back harder
against the injustices, that in turn pushes the military to
persecute them even more. The cycle of violence repeats itself and
the umbrella of impunity spreads itself wider.
Impunity in El Salvador, and in Morazan is not new. We have
mentioned the massacres of the early 1980s. Even if one goes back
no further in history, one can see the cylce of violence. Due to
those massacres, thousands of Salvadorenos fled into Honduras,
other countries, and other parts of El Salvador. No justice has
been done with respect to those crimes. Now nine years later the
communities of Segundo Morazan are organized and serious in their
efforts (legal and non-legal) to obtain justice.
With this pressure, the military again uses its umbrella of
impunity to persecute them, to weaken and defeat their efforts.
6- SEGUNDO MONTES - ORGANIZATION AND CONSCIENCE
The efforts to isolate Segundo Montes are not only to prevent
all efforts at seeking justice and punishment, in this way
perpetuating impunity, but also are due to the military's fear of
the levels of organizations and education of the repobladores.
(This was mentioned in the CRIPDES document cited above)
Without any desire to glorify the community of SM, their
efforts to survive and move ahead, despite tremendous opposition,
are extraordinary. These very achievements frighten, in the opinion
of CODEHUCA, sectors of the military and government in El Salvador.
ORGANIZATION
The SM community is extremely organized. Although there is
much poverty, through their communal efforts they have achieved a
level of material existence that is not as low as, for example,
marginalized neighborhoods, in San Salvador, and throughout Central
America, where communal organization is often non-existent.
Their organization is evident in all aspects of their life,
from the production of their basic foods, the construction of their
shoe and technical workshops, their own source of electrical power,
their own potable water system, their private homes and communal
centres, through to the non-legal defense of their human rights.
CODEHUCA was told that whenever one of their community members
was illegally detained or captured by the military, their reaction
was together together as many persons as possible and drive and
march (if necessary) to the particular military establishment to
publicly demand the liberty of the person(s).
During the two day Forum, when it was learned that the four
bus caravan had been detained, the SM community, in an open-house
meeting, took the collective decision to drive and then march out
to the caravan members, who were attempting to march into the
community. Although it did not arrive to this point, due to the
fact that, as explained above, they were threatened by machine-gun
fire and obliged to return to San Salvador, it is a very good
example of their level of organization to protect their rights.
These decisions to march, in order to demand respect for their
human rights, are moreover a reflection of their lack of faith in
the Judiciary and Legislative branches, to guarantee respect for
their rights.
EDUCATION
This level of organization is directly related to their level
of education as to what are their rights and duties as Salvadoran
citizens. The repobladores are very knowledgeable as to their
rights. This makes it all the harder for the military to treat them
with impunity. With their level of organization and education, they
are no longer submissive to the violations committed by the
military.
Obviously this leads them often into direct argument with and
protest against the actions of the military. It is this very
example that sectors of the military and government fear - that is
to say, if the whole Salvadoran population were as organized and
educated, their would be a much more effective pressure built up
against the umbrella of impunity.
THE FORUM
The Forum, in which CODEHUCA gave an exposition concerning the
Humanitarian Law of War as applied to the case of the El Mozote
massacre, is an excellent example of their level of education and
organization. The principle aspects of the Forum were the testimony
given by Rufina Amaya, and the legal analysis of how the case of
the El Mozote massacre was proceeding in the courts.
7- ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
The visits to the repopulation communities gave CODEHUCA a
first-hand look at how some of the most historically abused sectors
of El Salvador are subsisting, and fighting to improve their living
conditions. The visits gave CODEHUCA, as well, a first hand look at
the FAS efforts to isolate the communities and impede those
efforts.
It is CODEHUCA's opinion that the international community has
a very important role to play in focusing attention on communities,
such as Segundo Montes, in El Salvador and Guatemala. They are very
isolated and very exposed to the impunity of the Armed Forces.
a- INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
Bernard Aronson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Latin
America said "The sooner the two sides (the government and the
FMLN) reach a cease-fire, the sooner the U.S. will be able to
dedicate its assistance including military aid to the support of
peace".
It is CODEHUCA's opinion that it is this very policy that is
contributing to the perpetuation of human rights violations of the
civilian population. The U.S. has no right to take upon itself the
role of final arbiter on what happens in El Salvador. The U.S.
continues to interfere militarily, giving close to unconditional
support to the FAS, instead of seeking a non-military impartial way
to promote the peace process. This impartial way unquestionably
would be through the United Nations, and other regional peace
initiatives.
Representative Moakley (Democrat), often a critic of the role
of the U.S. in El Salvador, recently spoke with the Miami Herald:
"Both sides in the 11-year civil war, he said, "should be put on
notice". If the rightist government stalls the negotiations, kills
civilians or fails to make "a breakthrough" in the case of the six
murdered Jesuit priests, it stands to lose millions in U.S.
military aid. If the rebels of the FMLN stall talks, assassinate
civilians or receive weaponry from outside the country, the San
Salvador government will get more in military aid, he said".(Miami
Herald, June 7, 1991)
Rep. Moakley's efforts to achieve peace in El Salvador are
well known and appreciated. But he, like so many others, is still
reserving the ultimate right for the U.S. to decide the terms of
peace in El Salvador. According to the position put forth by
Moakley, the U.S. will decide if the army and\or the rebels are
misbehaving.
The U.S. is not impartial. The U.S. is involved in the
conflict, having always financed, trained and equipped the Armed
Forces. Any decision they take is taken in function of their own
interests. Moakley's position, in this regard, is only a shift away
from that of Aronson.
It is CODEHUCA's opinion that for the sake of the victims of
human rights violations, past, present, and future, the U.S. should
be stopped from being the final arbiter.
Thus CODEHUCA believes that the international community should
turn its attention to putting an end to all U.S. military aid, of
any type, to the government and military of El Salvador. CODEHUCA
believes that all efforts should be put into supporting the work of
the ONUSAL.
b- DELEGATION VISITS
The second major suggestion is that delegations be organized
to come and visit the repopulation communities in El Salvador. In
particular, CODEHUCA invites persons and organizations to go to the
community of Segundo Montes to participate in the activities that
are now being planned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the El
Mozote massacre, that will take place on December 11, 1991. For
more information, please get in touch with the organizations in El
Salvador, or contact our offices in Costa Rica.
ADDRESSES:
CODEHUCA, AP 189-1002, San Jose, Costa Rica, Tel - 506-245970, Fax
- 506-342935;
Oficina de TUTELA LEGAL, AP 2253, San Salvador, tel - 503-266066,
262085, fax - 264979;
CRIPDES, Final 23 C.Pte. No.1523, San Salvador, Tel - 503-263717,
fax - 503-259232;
PADECOMSM (Patronato para el Desarollo de las Comunidades de
Morazan y San Miguel), 23 Av N, Casa 107, Barrio San Miguelito, San
Salvador, El Salvador, Tel - 503 265249, or,
Casa 7, Barrio la Soledad, San Francisco de Gotera, Morazan,
Tel - 503 640171;
Comunidad Segundo Montes, tel - 503-268389;
For groups in the U.S., the following organization has done alot of
work during the 1980s specifically with the community of Segundo
Montes:
Rocky Mountain Peace Centre, Box 1156, Boulder, Co., 80306,
Tel - 303-938-9174. Contact - Hank Brusselbuck.
THANK-YOU, CODEHUCA, JUNE 13, 1991
TESTIMONY
The following is a translation of the testimony given by
Rufina Amaya (one of the only survivors of the El Mozote massacre).
Rufina's four young children were murdered during the massacre. The
testimony was taped by the one CODEHUCA representative that was
able to arrive at the commmunity.
On May 26, 1991, at the Forum, Rufina stood before the
assembled citizens of the community of SM. Even though the military
did not allow the CODEHUCA delegates and the law students to attend
the forum, Rufina said she was not going to allow silence and
impunity to continue to cover-up this crime.
RUFINA AMAYA: "Now I am going to begin to tell about what
happened on December 10-11, 1981. At around 10 a.m., we heard the
sounds of mortars being shot, and bombs exploding. The mortar
shells were falling all around this area. ...
"At around 6 p.m. the soldiers entered our town. I was there
with my children and some other people. The soldiers went to every
hut and made everyone go to the central town square. After about
two hours, they sent us back to our homes, warning us not to leave
our homes. ... They had the town surrounded the whole time, and
were going to shoot at persons found leaving their homes. ...
"On the morning of the 11th of December, at around 5 a.m.,
they started herding us towards the town square. They told us that
we needn't carry anything with us, not even blankets. We went to
the plaza with our children, who were mostly undressed. ...
"They formed two lines, one for men and one for the rest of
us. For about two hours they had us there, lined up. Soldiers were
saying to us "you all have to stay there until our superiors come
to tell us what we to do with you".
"When the helicopter came, they separated us off from the men,
who were taken to the Church. They kept many of us in the home of
Alfredo Marquez all day long. The children had nothing to wear and
nothing to eat. They were there crying all day. The elderly were
also crying ...
"We saw that many soldiers were coming into the town. We saw,
as well, many persons dressed in civilian clothing. People began to
say that those persons dressed in civilian clothes were the 'Death
Squads' ...
"They came to where we were and told us not to worry. They
told us many lies about how nothing was going to happen, etc. We
knew they were lying because we knew what they were doing to the
men.
"From one of the windows of the house, we could see into the
church area. We saw that they had the men blind-folded and lying
down, even piled up, one on top of the other. We then saw as they
took out the first ones and they killed them.
"At this point we began to cry even more - children and women
alike. We saw that they were cutting off their heads and were
leaving their bodies lying there on the ground. They grabbed some
of their heads and they threw them into the Convent.
"We began to say amongst ourselves that that is what they were
going to do to us. Some of the elderly people began to cry out that
they did not want to die in this way. They were praying to god that
they wouldn't be killed this way. The soldiers, at the door, began
to laugh. They told us that we shouldn't worry.
"At around 11 a.m., they came to get the elderly and the
children and they took them from the house. The elderly made more
noise than anyone as they took them by force from the house. They
took them away to kill them.
"After this, they came and began to take out groups of women -
group by group. They told us that they were taking them to where
the Lieutenant was, before sending them home to their houses. But
we could hear the machine-guns being fired over and over again. We
knew they were killing the people. ...
"At around 5 p.m. they came and they took me out with a group
of about 22 women. They were taking me to the massacre. They took
us across the street to the houses where they were killing the
women. When we saw all the dead persons we began to scream out, and
we were crying and we said 'don't kill us. Please don't kill
us'....
"It was in this moment of confusion, when the women were
crying and screaming, that I was able to fall to my knees and hide
behind a bush. ... I was able to see that they lined the women up
in fours at the door of the houses and they machine-gunned them to
death and then they hauled them inside. There was a whole pile of
dead persons there.
"I saw them as they raped the women before murdering them. I
was able to see this from below the bushes where I was hidden. I
saw when some soldiers came to say that they had gotten all of the
women - that they had looked behind the doors of all the houses ...
All that was left were the children but they did not yet know what
they were going to do with the children.
"Then one soldier said "you know what the Lieutenant said -
that we have to kill the children". Another soldier said "look I do
not want to kill the children. It is bad to kill the children.
There are between 600 and 800 - that is alot of children. There are
some good children here - I would like to take one or two with me".
"The the other one said "the Lieutenant said that if we did
not obey their orders, they would do us in". The other one
continued "I'd almost prefer to die than to kill the children, but
let us go and see what we are to do".
"Someone else then came out of one of the houses and said that
they had finished off all of the women and that it was now time to
get something with which to light a fire, because they were going
to burn the women. "Go to (such and such) a house and there you
will find some (Tuza) remains of the corn harvest that burns very
well".
"Then some soldiers went by carrying Tuza. They were bringing
it from the house of Moncho Rodriguez, who had alot of Tuza. Then
they lit it on fire and put the women on fire. ... When the pile of
bodies was burning, I heard the screams of a little boy, from the
flames. One of the soldiers said: "Look, you didn't kill that
little son-of-a-bitch. Go kill him". The other soldier grabbed his
machine-gun and shot at where the screams were coming from. There
were no more screams. ...
"Later, some soldiers were sitting close to where I was
hidden. "We will now see what we are to do with all these children.
---All those women were wives of the guerilla fighters. We are not
going to leave anyone here because they sent us to do a total
clean-up. The people living in this area were collaborators of the
guerillas. Getting rid of this people will help us get rid of the
guerilla".
"Another soldier said "if you could see how many children
there are in these houses, you would see what a big shame it is to
kill them all ... " They talked of many things as they sat there
waiting: that they were members of the Atlacatl Batallion; that
they came from other parts of the nation; that they were doing this
'clean-up' to win the war with the guerilla. They talked of how the
women and elderly cried and screamed, that they were going to leave
this zone completely destroyed - no people, no homes, no crops,
nothing, ...
"Later on, I was able to cross the street, hiding amongst a
bunch of animals. From there I began to hear the voices of the
children that were screaming and crying out - "mama, they are
killing us", "mama, they are choking us", "mama, they are stabbing
us", ...
"All of this I could hear from where I was. I did not hear any
shots being fired. I was crying to myself as I thought about my
four children. ....
(Rufina Amaya was able to get away from the immediate area)
"I crossed over a small road and came to a small house. Where
Daniel Romero had lived. There I found only one cadaver, on the
patio of the house. They had cut his neck. He had a knife sticking
in his body. ... I went on from there. I cut myself a piece of
sugar cane, and continued. I went over by Jocote Amarillo, and
arrived at some more homes. There were no people there. ...
"I arranged things to remain there in one of the homes made of
straw. There was only a small bed. I lay there and I could hear
alot of shooting going on up in the hills. I no longer was afraid.
I just felt totally worn out and sad. I went to sleep. In the early
morning I was crying. It was very cold. ...
"I spent five days in this place without seeing any one,
without drinking water, without eating. Yet I did not feel hungry
or thirsty. All I could think of was that this was how I had to
live. ...
"After some seven days, I was looking thrugh the houses when
I heard the voice of a young girl: "Tona, hurry up. Your mama said
that we had to hurry". I felt very happy to find other people
there. When they saw me they asked what had happened in Mozote. I
told them ... . They asked me how I had saved myself? I told them
that I thought it was God's will.
(In her testimony, Rufina goes on to name a large number of
persons, she had known, from Mozote, who were massacred)
"There is one thing I will never forget and that is the
screams of the children that I heard, the cries of the elderly and
the women ..."
** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **