El Salvador: Information on death squad lists of "subversives"; would the name of an FPL member in 1979 still be on such a list in 1989? (Subject deserted army, was an FPL guerrilla, and fled El Salvador)

Information on how long a name would remain active on an alleged death squad list is currently unavailable to the IRBDC. An increase in Death Squad activity over the past few years has been documented by Amnesty International in a report entitled Death Squads: A Government Strategy. Whether or not formal lists exist, people suspected of being supporters of the guerrillas have been killed.

Although precise information on the legal punishment for desertion from the Salvadorean armed forces is currently unavailable to the IRBDC, it is clear that a deserter might face some repercussions. Military service is compulsory for all Salvadoreans between the ages of 18 and 30, and there is no provision for conscientious objection or alternative service. [A. Eide and C. Mubanga-Chipoya, United Nations, Conscientious Objection to Military Service, Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, (New York: United Nations Publications, 1985) pp. 23, 26; Blaustein and Flanz, eds., Constitutions of the Countries of the World, (Dobbs Ferry: Oceana Publications Inc., 1984) Article 215, p. 64.] Under-age recruitment is practised by both the military and by the FMLN guerrillas. [ Americas Watch, The Civilian Toll 1986-87, (New York: Americas Watch Publications, 1987), pp. 111 and 153.] In addition, "conscientious objectors may be imprisoned and treated as deserters" [ Conscientious Objection to Military Service,

p. 28.] but the punishment is unspecified. A former Salvadorean Lieutenant Colonel testifying on behalf of a Salvadorean refugee claimant (in the United States) who had been a conscientious objector in El Salvador stated that

...in the context of the civil war in El Salvador, a refusal to serve would be interpreted as disloyalty to the government and would result in torture or death.

The author adds that

"Persecution motivated by suspicions of the individual's political loyalties is persecution on account of imputed political opinion and constitutes a claim separate and apart from the claim based on conscientious objection." [ Karen Musalo, "Conscientious Objection to Military Service accepted as Valid Basis of Claim to Political Asylum for Salvadoran Men", Immigration Newsletter, Vol. 16 No. 3, May-June 1987.]

Regardless of the reasons a Salvadorean may have left El Salvador, evidence suggests that some may experience difficulties upon return. For example, please refer to the attached article "Salvadoran Returnee Captured" El Sol, (Silversprings, 21 September 1987), and "Report says Salvadorans harassed on return home" (by John Robinson, Boston Globe, 13 May 1987) cited in Documents on Danger to Salvadoran Deportees by Centro Presente, May 1989.

In El Salvador, there have been arbitrary executions of civilians perpetrated by government forces, some of whom have been linked to death squads. [ Amnesty International, Death Squads: A Government Strategy, (London: Amnesty International Publications, October 1988), pp. 15-17; ICCHRLA Newsletter, 1989, Nos. 1 & 2, p. 30.] A range of people from all sectors of Salvadorean society have been the targets of Death Squad activity, including teachers, academics, trade unionists, human rights workers, journalists, the judiciary, members of cooperatives, and displaced persons and returned refugees. ["Death Squads", pp. 24-35.]

Attached, please find a page from the Amnesty International publication, Death Squads: A Government Strategy, which discusses the interrogation, arrest, and disappearance of displaced persons or returned refugees.