Human Rights Watch condemns arrest warrant against El Salvador activist News
U.S. Mission Photo by Eric Bridiers, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Human Rights Watch condemns arrest warrant against El Salvador activist

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused an El Salvador judge of using an investigation into a 1981 massacre to prosecute a local human rights activist over false accusations of supporting an amnesty law that barred prosecution of atrocities. The human rights activist, Rubén Zamora, has sought accountability for the 1981 El Mozote massacre and is therefore under scrutiny by the judge, according to the HRW.

HRW’s statements come after Salvadoran Judge Mirtala Portillo issued an arrest warrant against Zamora on December 22, 2023. Zamora has been a longtime vocal activist for victims of the 1981 massacre and a progressive critic of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s government. 

The El Mozote massacre was carried out by El Salvador’s US-backed right-wing military, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1,000 people, half of whom were children. Zamore was charged with “obstruction of justice” for supposedly having voted for and signed a 1993 Amnesty Bill that barred prosecutions for certain acts during the war, like the El Mozote massacre. Zamora, then-vice-president of the Congressional assembly, had opposed the bill according to HRW’s records.

The amnesty law was passed a mere five days after the UN-sponsored Truth Commission released its 1993 report, which detailed numerous grave human rights violations during El Salvador‘s 12-year civil war between 1980 and 1992. The law, promulgated and supported by the right-wing ruling party, ensured immunity for individuals involved in the conflict, irrespective of their affiliation, thereby allowing them to regain political influence.

The law was ruled unconstitutional by El Salvador’s Supreme Court of Justice in 2016 for breaching international humanitarian law. The Supreme Court contended that the phrase “broadest possible amnesty” in Article 6(5) of Additional Protocol II of the law should be construed in a manner that considers the international obligations of El Salvador. This allowed then-judge Jorge Guzmán to resume the investigation into the 1981 massacre.

Amid a controversial move by President Bukele’s supporters in the Legislative Assembly to empower the Supreme Court with broad authority to transfer and dismiss judges, Judge Guzmán resigned in September 2021. HRW says that Judge Portillo, who was subsequently appointed by the Supreme Court, has made little progress in the 1981 massacre investigation.

Americas director at Human Rights Watch, Juanita Goebertus Estrada stated:

The decision is a mockery of justice and an affront to victims. Instead of prosecuting members of the military who killed hundreds of people in El Mozote, the Salvadoran authorities are using trumped-up charges against a prominent human rights advocate who has been tirelessly seeking justice for the victims.

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