El Salvador: Information on individual targeting of regular members (privates, conscripts and lower ranks) of the National Guard or the army by the FMLN in La Libertad, 1990-93
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1994 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SLV16983.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, El Salvador: Information on individual targeting of regular members (privates, conscripts and lower ranks) of the National Guard or the army by the FMLN in La Libertad, 1990-93, 1 April 1994, SLV16983.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad2640.html [accessed 31 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Specific references to cases of individual targeting of regular members of the National Guard or army by the FMLN in La Libertad could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB.
As per our telephone discussion, the attached documents from Human Rights Watch provide examples of murders of servicemen or former servicemen from the army and National Guard, although these cases occurred in the departments of San Vicente, Santa Ana and Sonsonate.
One of the attached documents by Human Rights Watch, while discussing political murders in the 1992-93 period, states that "fifty or sixty members of the armed forces have also been killed, but there are few indications of political motivation" (Human rights Watch/Americas Mar. 1994, 3). The same report mentions the difficulty in determining the motivation for murders, adding that although the mere identity or affiliation of the victim is not enough to determine a political motivation, there have been instances in which "political murders have been carried out to look like common crimes, as a way of masking underlying political objectives" (ibid., 4). The report does not mention specific cases of murdered members of the armed forces.
The attached excerpt from an April 1993 ONUSAL report also discusses the difficulty in determining the specific motives for a murder, stating the following:
The ambiguity that characterizes many crimes makes it difficult to pinpoint the existence of a political motive. At the same time, the presence of apparently clear-cut evidence that the crime is an ordinary crime is not necessarily sufficient to classify it as a purely criminal act, since the political, institutional or trade union activity of the victim or his access to certain sources of information caution against ruling out the possibility of the simultaneous existence of political motives (United Nations 5 Apr. 1993, 13).
The same report mentions the continued existence of "organized groups carrying out extralegal executions, often using military weapons, although the number and frequency of such executions have declined" (ibid., 16). The report states that "evidence seems to suggest that in some cases the actions of these organized groups may be politically motivated, while in others they may be a way of dispensing 'private justice'" (ibid.). The source adds that "the latter phenomenon is on the rise, especially in large urban areas" (ibid.).
The ONUSAL report provides a definition of this "private justice," and states the following:
An overall analysis of all the deaths verified as examples of violation of the right to life indicates that these fall into the following categories: deaths resulting from the use of excessive force or violent means by security forces; violent, non-political deaths involving methods comparable to extralegal execution; violent, non-political deaths attributable to criminal groups, gangs or organizations using extralegal means to combat ordinary crime (private justice); and politically motivated deaths or deaths which, given the victim's occupation (trade union, political or institutional), probably involved political factors (ibid.).
Finally, the document mentions differences in the occurrence of violations of the right to life, stating that in the departments of San Miguel, San Vicente, Usulutan and Chalatenango "few, if any, deaths comparable to summary executions are reported, while the vast majority of recorded cases are concentrated in San Salvador and Santa Ana" (ibid.).
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Human Rights Watch/Americas [New York]. March 1994. Vol. 6, No. 4."El Salvador-Darkening Horizons: Human Rights on the Eve of the March 1994 Elections."
United Nations General Assembly, Security Council. 5 April 1993. (A/47/912-S/25521). Note by the Secretary General.
Attachments
Americas Watch. March 1991. El Salvador and Human Rights: The Challenge of Reform. New York: Human Rights Watch, p. 25.
. May 1990. Violation of Fair Trial Guarantees by the FMLN's Ad-Hoc Courts. New York: Human Rights Watch, p. 16.
Human Rights Watch/Americas [New York]. March 1994. Vol. 6, No. 4."El Salvador-Darkening Horizons: Human Rights on the Eve of the March 1994 Elections," pp. 1-5.
United Nations General Assembly, Security Council. 5 April 1993. (A/47/912-S/25521). Note by the Secretary General, pp. 13-16.
United Nations Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights. 9 February 1993. (E/CN.4/1993/11). Report of the Independent Expert on El Salvador, Mr. Pedro Nikken, Appointed by the Secretary-General in Accordance with Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1992/62 of 3 March 1992, p. 15.
