El Salvador: Whether there was an anti-terrorist unit within the Treasury Police between 1984 and 1992, and if so, whether Lieutenant Julio Cesar Ramírez Vigil was the its supervisor; whether he was murdered on 13 August 1996 in Canton Miraflores, in the region of San Pedro Masahuat; and the name of the commander of the Treasury Police in 1991 and 1992
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SLV29237.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, El Salvador: Whether there was an anti-terrorist unit within the Treasury Police between 1984 and 1992, and if so, whether Lieutenant Julio Cesar Ramírez Vigil was the its supervisor; whether he was murdered on 13 August 1996 in Canton Miraflores, in the region of San Pedro Masahuat; and the name of the commander of the Treasury Police in 1991 and 1992, 1 May 1998, SLV29237.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aac93c.html [accessed 1 June 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. |
Information on these subjects is limited among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
According to a compilation entitled El Salvador: Military Structure-Chain of Command sent to the Research Directorate by a professor of political science specializing in Salvadoran military matters at the University of New Mexico, the Treasury Police in 1991, prior to its closure, was commanded by a Director and Sub Director (4 May 1998). The Treasury Police had two attached mobile battalions called the CEAT battalion and the LIBERTADORES battalion. Both battalions were trained in carrying out urban counterinsurgency tactics. In a 4 May 1998 e-mail message sent to the Research Directorate, the professor could not confirm the full name of the CEAT combat battalion, but stated that there were strong possibilities that "anti-terrorista" was part of the full name. The professor added that he had no information on a Lieutenant Julio Cesar Ramírez Vigil.
In a 4 May 1998 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, an employee at the Prensa Grafíca, one of the major newspapers in San Salvador, stated that there was an article published in El Diario de Hoy, another major San Salvador newspaper, on 17 August 1996 regarding the murder of Lieutenant Julio Cesar Ramírez Vigil. However, the Research Directorate was unable to obtain a copy of the article within the time constraints of this Response to Information Request.
Information on who was the commander of the Treasury Police in 1991 and 1992 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate 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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Prensa Grafíca, San Salvador. 4 May 1998. Telephone interview with an employee.
Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. 4 May 1998. Letter and e-mail sent to the Research Directorate.
Additional Sources Consulted
Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 1996.
Central American Report [Guatemala City]. 1996.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. 1997.
Indexed Media Review. 1996.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1996.
Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean and Central America Report [London]. 1996.
Latin American Weekly Report [London]. 1996.
Procuraduría Para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, San Salvador.
Resource Centre Amnesty International File: El Salvador. 1996.
Resource Centre Country File: El Salvador. 1996.
Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), San Salvador.
One source consulted did not provide information on the above-mentioned subject.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News Connection (WNC).
