Armed men burn records of El Salvador war missing

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Armed men burn records of El Salvador war missing

AP foreign, Thursday November 14 2013

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) - El Salvador's national fire department says armed men have stolen computers and burned archives of an agency investigating complaints that nearly 1,000 children went missing from the country's 1980-1992 civil war.

Sgt. Armando Pineda says the men entered the offices of the Probusqueda Association for Missing Children and set fire to archives.

Director Ester Alvarenga says the incident early Thursday morning is "sabotage" and "an attack on our work."

She says she has not been allowed to enter and doesn't know what's missing.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/11066533

[Demeter]

1. Reminding Americans of how much worse it can get here

while over in Venezuela, there is REAL hope and actual, permanent change.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Burning the Evidence: Gunmen Torch Records Documenting War Crimes, Missing Children in El Salvador

Burning the Evidence: Gunmen Torch Records Documenting War Crimes, Missing Children in El Salvador
Friday, November 15, 2013

(Video at link.)

On Thursday, armed men sabotaged an El Salvadoran nonprofit dedicated to finding children who went missing three decades ago during a time when the United States was backing Salvador’s military government. The intruders broke into the Pro-Búsqueda Association for Missing Children, destroyed four of its offices, and set fire to its archives. They also stole computers, possibly containing sensitive information about children stolen by members of the military between 1980 and 1992. El Salvador’s human rights ombudsman, David Morales, told the Associated Press the attack could be related to an appeal before the country’s Supreme Court that would eliminate amnesty for people who carried out war crimes. We go to San Salvador, El Salvador, to speak with Monserrat Martínez, who works in the investigation unit of the Pro-Búsqueda Association for Missing Children. We are also joined by Alexis Stoumbelis, the executive director of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador.

Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Armed men have sabotaged a Salvadoran nonprofit agency dedicated to finding children who went missing during three decades ago during a time when the United States was backing Salvador’s military government. On Thursday, the intruders broke into the Pro-Búsqueda Association for Missing Children, destroyed four of its offices, and set fire to its archives. They also stole computers, possibly containing sensitive information such as cases of children stolen by members the military between 1980 and 1992. Efforts to investigate those cases have been obstructed by the military’s refusal to share DNA records.

Shortly after the attack, El Salvador’s human rights ombudsman, David Morales, visited the organization and commented on what had happened.

DAVID MORALES: [translated] On a group that struggles for the community and tries to help victims of armed conflict, we haven’t seen this type of attack for a long time. Traditionally, the political purpose is to intimidate, pursue and destroy information that shows what happened in the past.

AMY GOODMAN: Morales told the Associated Press the attack could be related to an appeal before the country’s Supreme Court that would eliminate amnesty for people who carried out war crimes, and he requested the attorney general to prioritize investigating the attack.

More:
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/15/burning_the_evidence_gunmen_torch_records