Rights lawyers file Spanish court case on El Salvador killings
Nearly 20 years after the Salvadoran Army murdered six Jesuit priests in one of the most notorious incidents of the country's civil war, a criminal complaint filed in the Spanish High Court has revived hopes that those behind the slaughter could face trial.
Human rights lawyers filed a complaint with Spain's High Court on Thursday alleging that former President Alfredo Cristiani Burkard of El Salvador and 14 former members of the military played a role in the deaths of the priests and two female employees, and in an official cover-up that followed. The international outrage provoked by the incident proved to be pivotal in sapping American support for U.S. military assistance to the Salvadoran Army.
"We hope this case helps to reawaken the memory and the conscience of El Salvador's people," said Almudena Bernabeu, a lawyer for the U.S.-based Center for Justice and Accountability, which filed the case along with the Spanish Association for Human Rights.
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Human rights lawyers filed a complaint with Spain's High Court on Thursday alleging that former President Alfredo Cristiani Burkard of El Salvador and 14 former members of the military played a role in the deaths of the priests and two female employees, and in an official cover-up that followed. The international outrage provoked by the incident proved to be pivotal in sapping American support for U.S. military assistance to the Salvadoran Army.
"We hope this case helps to reawaken the memory and the conscience of El Salvador's people," said Almudena Bernabeu, a lawyer for the U.S.-based Center for Justice and Accountability, which filed the case along with the Spanish Association for Human Rights.