Civil War Crimes in Guatemala and El Salvador

Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco recently issued new "red alerts" against five former Salvadoran soldiers implicated in the murders of the Jesuits martyrs at the UCA in November 1989. The alerts were issued for the following individuals: 

Guillermo Alfredo Benavides Moreno (Army colonel and director of the Military Academy), Joaquín Arnoldo Cerna Flores (colonel and head of the Joint Three of the Joint Chiefs of the Armed Forces), Hector Ulises Cuenca Ocampo (Lt. Armed Forces stationed in the National Intelligence Agency of El Salvador).

They are also defendants Carlos Mauricio Guzman Aguilar (colonel and director of the National Intelligence Agency of El Salvador, DNI), and Oscar Alberto León Linares (Colonel and commander of Battalion Atlacatl).

Last month, the Salvadoran Supreme Court ruled that the government had met its legal responsibility by locating the nine soldiers for whom red alerts had been issued and that they were under no requirement to arrest the individuals. They were also within their own rights not to extradite the suspects because the judge’s request had not been properly forwarded to government officials.

While I can't say that I entirely bought the Supreme Court’s arguments, I figured that its ruling was only a beginning. People shouldn’t have gotten too worked up about the ruling and should instead let the legal process play out (that is, those who weren't actually pushing the case forward). Spanish authorities would in all likelihood alter their request in order to satisfy Salvadoran concerns. Once they had done that, the ball would be back in El Salvador's court. That sure seems to be where we are right now.

In neighboring Guatemala, a judge had been expected to rule Wednesday on whether former General Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes should stand trial for genocide in connection with ~300 massacres committed during Guatemala's civil war. A genocide case would be the first of its kind in Guatemala and the Americas. López Fuentes served as chief of staff of the Guatemalan military under president General Efrain Rios Montth between 1982 and 1983. 

Unfortunately, today’s expected decision was suspended "due to an administrative failure to transfer a file from the Appellate Court to the presiding judge." The judge is now scheduled to rule October 3rd. While this might be a legitimate reason, it is in no way going to reduce concerns that the court is simply acting to protect one of the men most responsible for designing and executing the government’s early 1980s scorched earth program. 

Finally in a third case, the Guatemalan Office of Human Rights submitted its case against Pedro Pimentel Rios for his alleged involvement in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre. Like the four ex-kaibiles convicted in August, the Public Prosecutor's office believes that Rios was a member of an "assault group who killed, tortured and raped in Las Dos Erres." Rios was arrested on immigration charges in the United States and subsequently deported to Guatemala in July.

While all three cases deserve their day in court, I am really interested in both the Jesuits' case and the genocide case. Those involved are some of those most responsible for the design and execution of the dirty wars launched out against the guerrillas and their civilian supporters and anyone else who dared speak out against the repressive regimes in El Salvador and Guatemala.