Commission on the Truth for El Salvador
Encyclopedia
The Truth Commission for El Salvador was a truth commission
established by the United Nations
to investigate and report on human rights abuses during the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1992).
The Commission was established by the 1992 Chapultepec Peace Accords
that brought the civil war to an end. Article 2 of the Accords stipulates, "The Commission shall have the task of investigating serious acts of violence that have occurred since 1980 and whose impact on society urgently demands that the public should know the truth".
The Commission was charged with clarifying and putting an end to any indication of impunity on the part of officers of the armed forces, as explained in Article 5 of the Chapultepec Peace Agreement: "acts of this nature, regardless of the sector to which their perpetrators belong, must be the object of exemplary action by the law courts so that the punishment prescribed by law is meted out to those found responsible".
The Commission received testimony from 2,000 people in relation to 7,000 victims, and gathered information from secondary sources related to more than 8,000 victims. In addition, 23,000 additional written statements were received. From this evidence, the commission selected 13,569 cases and highlighted 32 cases which illustrated the patterns of violence by the combatants in the war: the Armed Forces of El Salvador, the death squads and the Farabundo Martí Liberation Front (FMLN).
On March 15, 1993, the commission published its report From Madness to Hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador. The Commission attributed the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero
to the death squads, as well as the deaths of the victims of the El Mozote Massacre
. The murders of six Jesuit priests in November 1989 were attributed to the Armed Forces of El Salvador. The extrajudicial executions of mayors and members of the government were attributed to guerrilla militias.
Five days after the commission issued its report, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
approved an amnesty law
covering all the violent events of the war.
The chair was the former president of Colombia
Belisario Betancur
. The other members were Venezuelan Reinaldo Figueredo and American Thomas Buergenthal
. They were appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali
Truth commission
A truth commission or truth and reconciliation commission is a commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government , in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past...
established by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
to investigate and report on human rights abuses during the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1992).
The Commission was established by the 1992 Chapultepec Peace Accords
Chapultepec Peace Accords
The Chapultepec Peace Accords brought peace to El Salvador in 1992 after more than a decade of wrenching civil war.The treaty was negotiated by representatives of the Salvadoran government, the rebel movement FMLN, and political parties, with observers from the Roman Catholic Church and United...
that brought the civil war to an end. Article 2 of the Accords stipulates, "The Commission shall have the task of investigating serious acts of violence that have occurred since 1980 and whose impact on society urgently demands that the public should know the truth".
The Commission was charged with clarifying and putting an end to any indication of impunity on the part of officers of the armed forces, as explained in Article 5 of the Chapultepec Peace Agreement: "acts of this nature, regardless of the sector to which their perpetrators belong, must be the object of exemplary action by the law courts so that the punishment prescribed by law is meted out to those found responsible".
The Commission received testimony from 2,000 people in relation to 7,000 victims, and gathered information from secondary sources related to more than 8,000 victims. In addition, 23,000 additional written statements were received. From this evidence, the commission selected 13,569 cases and highlighted 32 cases which illustrated the patterns of violence by the combatants in the war: the Armed Forces of El Salvador, the death squads and the Farabundo Martí Liberation Front (FMLN).
On March 15, 1993, the commission published its report From Madness to Hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador. The Commission attributed the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero
Óscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
to the death squads, as well as the deaths of the victims of the El Mozote Massacre
El Mozote massacre
The El Mozote Massacre took place in and around the village of El Mozote, in Morazán department, El Salvador, on December 11, 1981, when Salvadoran armed forces trained by the United States military killed at least 200 and up to 1000 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran...
. The murders of six Jesuit priests in November 1989 were attributed to the Armed Forces of El Salvador. The extrajudicial executions of mayors and members of the government were attributed to guerrilla militias.
Five days after the commission issued its report, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
The Legislative Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of El Salvador.The Salvadoran legislature is a unicameral body....
approved an amnesty law
Amnesty law
An amnesty law is any law that retroactively exempts a select group of people, usually military leaders and government leaders, from criminal liability for crimes committed.Most allegations involve human rights abuses and crimes against humanity.-History:...
covering all the violent events of the war.
The chair was the former president of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur Cuartas is a Colombian statesman, who as a member of the Colombian Conservative Party was President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986.- Biographic data :...
. The other members were Venezuelan Reinaldo Figueredo and American Thomas Buergenthal
Thomas Buergenthal
Thomas Buergenthal is a former judge of the International Court of Justice. He resigned his post as of 6 September 2010. Buergenthal is returning to his position as Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at The George Washington University Law School...
. They were appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali