SOAW–West News for September, 2003
1) Sept. 23: SOAW-W November travel in GA and Colombia / Romero Asassin Conspirator Charged in Federal Court.
School of the Americas Watch–West ~ SOAW–W
September 23, 2003
Ft. Benning, GA Vigil is Nov. 21-23, 2003If you are going to the SOA Watch Vigil at Ft. Benning, GA, please communicate with the Bay Area Coordinator Brinda Govindan, 650.259.7869. She is organizing information about air flights and motels so that people can cooperate in sharing expenses whenever possible.San Jose Website - http://teachers.bcp.org/llauro
Los Angeles Website - www.soaw-la.org
National Website - www.soaw.orgSee below for details on:1. Peace delegation to Colombia this November 5-18 (deadline to sign up is
Sept 28)2. Key Conspirator in Assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Romero Faces
Lawsuit in U.S. Court.Building Peace in Wartime: Colombian Communities in ResistanceJoin Global Exchange and Fellowship of Reconciliation on our upcoming delegation to Colombia this November 5-18, 2003.
Colombians have endured over half a century of brutal armed conflict from right wing paramilitaries, left wing guerrillas and the government. Caught in the middle of this deadly debacle is the civilian population--for every soldier killed in combat, six civilians are murdered. Yet despite the danger, millions of courageous people in Colombia are working for peaceful alternatives. Global Exchange and Fellowship of Reconciliation are looking for people interested in participating in a delegation to experience Colombia first-hand.
As the "war on terrorism" continues the cycle of violence around the world, it is time to look towards the communities and people who are working daily to build non-violent alternatives to war and political violence.
The Fellowship of Reconciliation has an ongoing presence of human rights observers in northwestern Colombia, in the Peace Community of San José of Apartadó. Along with Global Exchange, the two organizations are part of a national network of groups working to inform and involve concerned US citizens about the conflict in Colombia, US policy towards it, and about nonviolent alternatives to the war and political violence.
On this delegation we will:
- Learn about the sociopolitical and economic roots of the conflict in Colombia.
- Focus on Colombian peace initiatives.
- Travel to Bogotá, Medellín, and northwestern Colombia to meet with peace communities and organizations working for nonviolent and negotiated solutions to the conflict.
- Meet with US and Colombian government officials.
- Return home to share what we have seen and heard with the media, Congress, and our communities.
APPLICATIONS
Due by September 15 (deadline extended! applications due on September 28!), 2003 with a $100 deposit. Balance is due by October 15, 2003.COST
The cost is $1400 plus airfare. This includes all meals, accommodations, facilitation, translation and transportation while in Colombia. Fee also covers briefing materials and extensive training. Fundraising tips will be provided!FOR AN APPLICATION AND MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Liza Smith
Global Exchange
2017 Mission Street #303
San Francisco, CA 94110
303-917-3168
colombia@globalexchange.org
Key Conspirator in Assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Romero Faces Lawsuit in U.S. Court
San Francisco, September 16California resident Alvaro Rafael Saravia has been accused in a federal lawsuit, announced today, of playing a key role in organizing the March 1980 assassination of revered Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, an outspoken critic of human rights abuses committed by the Salvadoran military. The lawsuit was made public today by San Francisco's Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), which filed the case on behalf of a plaintiff whose name has been withheld for security reasons.
Saravia, a captain in the air force until he became a top aide of Salvadoran death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson, has lived in the United States since at least 1987 when he was jailed for 14 months on immigration charges. Saravia's arrest came on the heels of a request by Salvadoran prosecutors for Saravia's extradition for his role in the Romero assassination. The Salvadoran Supreme Court later withdrew the extradition request in a decision denounced as politically motivated by the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and many human rights organizations. Saravia was released from federal prison on bond in 1988 following the Salvadoran Court's decision and has since lived in California and Florida.
Maria Julia Hernandez, Director of Tutela Legal, the human rights office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, and a close associate of the late Archbishop, flew to San Francisco from San Salvador to participate in the announcement of the lawsuit. To date, no person -- in El Salvador or elsewhere -- has been held responsible, criminally or civilly, for the Archbishop's assassination.
CJA Litigation Director Joshua Sondheimer stated, "The United States should not be a safe haven for those responsible for this heinous crime. The assassination of Archbishop Romero was especially tragic as he was a beloved leader for Salvadorans who sought to be free from ever-increasing military repression." During the 1980s, the military and right-wing death squads are reported to have killed as many as 75,000 civilians. "Because the 1993 Amnesty Law prevents those who suffered during El Salvador's notorious 'dirty war' from obtaining justice in the Salvadoran courts, it is appropriate that this case is being brought in the United States where Defendant Saravia and many other perpetrators of that campaign of terror now live," Sondheimer added.
The case is brought under two federal statutes, the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991, which allow suits against foreign nationals in the United States for summary killings and torture committed abroad.
Background
Archbishop Romero was a giant in the field of human rights. In the late 1970s in El Salvador, he became the leading voice for victims of government repression and for the poor through his weekly radio homilies, broadcast throughout the country. He regularly denounced human rights abuses committed by the Salvadoran armed forces and "death squads" and, for these reasons, was viewed by the Salvadoran far right as a threat to its political agenda.
On the eve of his assassination, Romero addressed his now-world-famous homily to government soldiers and pleaded: "In the name of God, in the name of these suffering people whose cries rise to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: Stop the repression."
Romero was fatally shot the next day, March 24, 1980, by a single sniper's bullet while performing mass in the Chapel of Divine Providence in El Salvador's capital San Salvador.
Romero's impact in mobilizing support for human rights did not end with his death. He has been nominated for recognition as a saint; his case now rests with the Vatican. Pope John Paull II reportedly supports his beatification.
The survivor's lawsuit, filed by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) and the law firm of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, charges that Saravia, a resident of Modesto, California, played a key role in making arrangements for the Archbishop's assassination.The complaint alleges that Saravia obtained weapons, vehicles and other materials for purposes of carrying out the assassination, provided his personal driver to transport the assassin to and from the chapel where Romero was shot, and paid the assassin after the assassination had been carried out. Saravia later reportedly advised D'Aubuisson that the "plan" to carry out the assassination had been successfully completed.
The U.N. Commission on the Truth for El Salvador and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights both concluded after separate investigations that Saravia was actively involved in planning and carrying out the assassination.
The Center for Justice & Accountability is a San Francisco nonprofit organization that empowers survivors of torture and other atrocities by helping them bring legal actions against perpetrators responsible for human rights abuses. CJA was founded in 1998 with the support of Amnesty International USA and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and is an independent non-profit organization. Information about CJA is available at www.cja.org.
Also representing the plaintiff are Nicholas van Aelstyn and Russell P. Cohen of the national law firm of Heller Ehrman White and McAuliffe LLP.
Heller Ehrman is a Charter Signatory to the American Bar Association's (ABA) Pro Bono Challenge, which calls on the nation's large law firms to adopt goals for pro bono legal services. Heller, Ehrman has received numerous awards for its pro bono work, including the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award; the Law Firm Award of Merit from the Legal Aid Association of California; the California State Bar President's Pro Bono Service Award for Northern California; the Outstanding Law Firm in Public Service award from the Bar Association of San Francisco, and an award from CARECEN in recognition of its Los Angeles office's work on behalf of the rights of Central American immigrants in the United States.
Chris McKenna
Outreach Coordinator
Center for Justice & Accountability
870 Market St., Suite 684
San Francisco, CA 94102
tel: (415) 544-0444, x302
fax: (415) 544-0456
e-mail: cmckenna@cja.org
web site: www.cja.org
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