Human rights stories out of El Salvador

Two El Salvador-related pieces to keep you busy this beautiful Sunday morning.

In the first, Nina Lakhani looks at the closing of Tutela Legal in El Salvador shutters historic rights clinic for Al Jazeera.

Since then, the Archbishop's Human Rights and Legal Aid Office, known as Tutela Legal since 1982, has documented more than 50,000 cases of human rights abuses - before, during and after the civil war which ended in 1992. It holds the most comprehensive archive of El Salvador's bloody history and its lawyers continue to represent survivors of notorious massacres including El Mozote and Rio Sumpul.

End of an era

On September 30 the staff arrived at work to find the locks changed and armed guards on the doors. They were allowed 10 minutes to clear their desks chaperoned by the security guards.

The current Archbishop, José Luis Escobar Alas, had closed Tutela Legal and issued a statement saying its work was "no longer relevant". Two days later Escobar Alas said it was a normal part of restructuring and modernisation and a more relevant organisation would open in due course.

The closure triggered national and international condemnation from faith, human rights and solidarity groups, with large protests outside the Archdiocese. The biggest concern is about the safety and preservation of the huge paper archive without which any future legal action against perpetrators, who have enjoyed full impunity until now, could prove impossible.

Should change libertarian theology to liberation theology although Romero's liberation theology appears to be somewhat distinct from the region's liberation theologians.

The second story is by Sarah WhitesKoditschek on Catching Up With The Past: Justice For The Jesuit Murders In El Salvador and is up at The Huffington Post.

Montano is one of an estimated 1,000 human rights violators living in the United States. Most enter the country with tourist visas and, like Montano, take advantage of benefits intended for refugees. Porous vetting processes -- at the State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Services, and later the Department of Homeland Security -- have facilitated their entry.

“I think if you look over time, there's clearly a pattern of military and police personnel from countries that we have long been strong allies with, especially during the Cold War, seeking refuge or simply a home in the United States,” said Kate Doyle of the National Security Archives in Washington D.C.

I'd just add that Spain seeks the extradition of the military officers responsible for the murders of the Jesuits because five of them were born in Spain. Temporary Protected Status also was extended to Salvadoran nationals because of earthquakes, not the civil war.