Two women hope testimony leads to conviction in El Salvador's 1989 Jesuit priest massacre
Two women hope testimony leads to conviction in El Salvador's 1989 Jesuit priest massacre
"It really takes a lot in a Catholic country to kill a priest," Terry Lynn Karl said. "You have to turn your enemies into subhumans—this is what the top commanders did."
Catholic faithful participate in a procession to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the murder of the Rev. Ignacio Ellacuría, five other Jesuit priests and two employees at Central American University in San Salvador on Nov. 14, 2015.Marvin Recinos / AFP - Getty Images file
Sept. 7, 2020, 5:38 AM CDT
By Arturo Conde
The killings of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her 15-year-old daughter in El Salvador in 1989 put a focus on the country's 12-year civil war and outraged human rights activists all over the world. Now, two American women — a Stanford University professor and a national security analyst — hope the declassified documents they helped present as evidence in a Spanish court will bring justice 31 years later.
"It really takes a lot in a Catholic country to kill a priest. You have to lay the groundwork," said Terry Lynn Karl, a Stanford University political scientist and Latin American studies professor emeritus. "You have to turn your enemies into subhumans, guerrillas, the heads of a guerilla group, and plant the idea that if you kill them, the war will be over. This is what the top commanders did."
Karl, who researched the notorious massacre over the last three decades, testified July 13 via video as an expert witness for a National Court trial in Madrid that has brought murder and terrorism charges against Inocente Orlando Montano, a former Salvadoran colonel and ex-deputy defense minister who was extradited from the U.S. to Spain in 2017.
Karl told a panel of Spanish judges that the Jesuits had been targeted by El Salvador's high military command.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/two-women-hope-testimony-leads-conviction-el-salvador-s-1989-n1239348