Salvadoran Supreme Court Reopens The Jesuits Massacre Case

On Wednesday, El Salvador’s Supreme Justice Court (CSJ) ordered to reopen the criminal proceedings for the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit fathers and two collaborators, a case which was closed in 2020 without condemning the intellectual authors.

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“This massacre, which occurred in the context of the civil war (1980-1992), is a crime against humanity that is imprescriptible," the CSJ said and condemned that the 2020 sentence violated the victims' right of access to justice.

On Nov. 16, 1989, the Atlacatl commando of elite soldiers killed the Jesuits and two women on the Central American University (UCA) campus in San Salvador.

Upon the annulment of a 1993 Amnesty Law, the Salvadoran Peace Court ordered to reopen the process at the request of the UCA. However, the appeals filed by the defense delayed the beginning of the investigative procedures by the Attorney General Office.

The Constitutional Court gave ten days to the Criminal Court to begin investigating those who were identified as possible masterminds of the murders: former President Alfredo Cristiani, Generals Humberto Larios, Juan Bustillo, Francisco Fuentes, Rafael Zepeda, and Rene Ponce, and Colonel Inocente Montano, who was already convicted in Spain.

Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado applauded the reopening of the case. "National and international voices have been demanding justice for this case for years: we promise them that we will pursue those responsible and achieve justice," he stated.

During the civil war, the U.S.-backed Salvadoran governments left 75,000 citizens dead and 8,000 person missing. The paramilitary groups were created to kill social leaders who supported the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).