Spain Demands that El Salvador extradite military personnel processed for the massacre of the Jesuits

The Council of Ministers also resolved to request that the United States of America extradite the two other military personnel accused in the killing who reside in that country. One of the defense lawyers said that the call for extradition does not worry them because they are certain that the Supreme Court of Justice will deny the request.

Ignacio Ellacuria, SJ

By Efren Lemus
elfaro.net / Published December 2,  2011
Translated by Bethany Loberg.  Original in Spanish here. 

This Friday the Spanish Council of Ministers agreed to request that Salvadoran and U.S. authorities extradite 15 Salvadoran military personnel accused of participating in the assassination of six Jesuit priests and two of their collaborators, a crime which occurred the 16th of November of 1989. 

Europa Press stated that in accordance with the proposal of the Spanish Minister of Justice, Francisco Caamaño, the Spanish government has emitted 13 requests for extradition from El Salvador and two from the United States. Caamaño presented the application for extradition at the request of the Supreme Court, the institution prosecuting the military personnel for the crimes of assassination, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.  

The Supreme Court decided to seek the support of the government itself after various requests for collaboration from Salvadoran judicial authorities, who refused to offer support in the investigations of the massacre committed by the Salvadoran army during the largest guerrilla offensive of the Salvadoran civil war. 

At the beginning of November, the judge assigned to the case, Eloy Velasco, formally asked the executive branch to begin the extradition process. The Spanish court is prosecuting 20 military personnel, however, following the death of the ex-chief of the General Military Staff, René Emilio Ponce, his case was closed. Two others implicated in the massacre have not been located, another has been willing to collaborate with justice, while the last one put himself under the judge’s orders and enjoys provisional liberty. 

High level Salvadoran Military Officers: Rene Emilio Ponce (deceased), Rafael Humberto Larios, Inocente Orlando Montano and Juan Orlando Zepeda, in 1989

In an interview published last June, one of the accused, Colonel Camilo Hernández revealed to El Faro that he gave the gun destined to kill the rector of the Univisity of Central America, Ignacio Ellacuría, to the soldiers that carried out the massacre. 

Two of the approved requests are directed to the judicial authorities of the United States, the country of residence of the Ex-Viceminister of Public Security, Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano Morales and Lieutenant Héctor Ulises Cuenca Ocampo, who worked as part of the National Leadership of Military Intelligence.  

Montano is accused of perjury in a United States court. The career military man has lived in the outskirts of Boston for a decade. A few months ago, shortly after the non-governmental organization that pushed for the lawsuit in Spain located him, Montajo told El Faro that the accusations against him had no basis and that the proof of this was that he lived peacefully in Boston. 

The other 13 requests are directed to Salvadoran authorities. The list of extraditable individuals includes the military leadership at the time of the massacre: Juan Rafael Bustillo Toledo, Ex-Commander of the Air Force, Joaquín Arnoldo Cerna Flores, Ex-Chief of the General Military Staff, Francisco Elena Fuentes Ex-Chief of the First InfantryBrigade, Carlos Mauricio Guzmán Aguilar, Ex-Director of National Intelligence, Rafael Humberto Larios López, Ex-Chief of the General Military Staff, Juan Orlando Zepeda Herrer, Ex-Viceminister of National Defense, and Guillermo Alfredo Benavides Moreno, Ex-director of the Military School.  

One of the defense lawyers consulted via telephone said he was not worried about the request. “It’s what we wanted and we were waiting for, because extradition is inadmissable,” said Eduardo Cardoza, representative of Bustillo and Larios. “The Supreme Court of Justice already set a precedent when it said that the difusion of the Interpol red alert did not imply obligation to capture the military personnel… we will request an audience with the plenary of the Supreme Court to present the reasons we believe that it is inadmissable to concede to extradition.”

The diplomatic extradition process also includes mid-rank officers and troops that made up the Atlacatl Batallion: Óscar Mariano Amaya Grimaldi, Antonio Ramiro Ávalos Vargas, José Ricardo Espinoza Guerra, Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos, Óscar Alberto León Linares y Tomás Zarpate Castillo.

Last July, Judge Velasco asked the International Police (Interpol) to capture the 10 accused military personnel. El Salvador received this order on August fourth, but far from carrying out the orders, permitted the accused men to seek refuge in the Special Military Brigade. They reasoned that although retired, career military men never cease being military personnel. The Minister of Defense at the time, David Munguía Payés agreed to give them refuge. 

Days later, the Supreme Court of Justice determined that the Interpol red alerts are not the equivalent of an international order of capture, but instead there ought to be authorization by the highest court to carry out such orders. Now the extradition applications will be settled by the same magistrates that acted to the benefit of the accused military men. 

Photo of Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ thanks to Gervasio Sanchez
Photo of Salvadoran Military Officers thanks to Primeromomento.com