Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SANSALVADOR450
2006-02-22 21:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy San Salvador
Cable title:  

EL SALVADOR: ALL BUT ONE SUSPECT IN SOTO MURDER

Tags:  ELAB ES KJUS PGOV PHUM PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #0450 0532100
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 222100Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1118
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000450 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2016
TAGS: ELAB ES KJUS PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: ALL BUT ONE SUSPECT IN SOTO MURDER
FOUND NOT GUILTY

REF: A. 2004 SAN SALVADOR 3558

B. 2005 SAN SALVADOR 547

Classified By: DCM Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000450

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2016
TAGS: ELAB ES KJUS PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: ALL BUT ONE SUSPECT IN SOTO MURDER
FOUND NOT GUILTY

REF: A. 2004 SAN SALVADOR 3558

B. 2005 SAN SALVADOR 547

Classified By: DCM Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: A sentencing tribunal on February 17
absolved two of three suspects accused in the November 5,
2004 murder of AmCit labor activist Gilberto Soto. One man
was convicted in the crime and will likely be sentenced
Friday. Prosecutors will appeal the court's findings to the
Supreme Court (CSJ). END SUMMARY.


2. (C) In the fifteen months since Soto's murder, the case
has generated considerable controversy in the wake of
accusations that some political motive might lay behind the
labor activist's death. The Office of the Human Rights
Ombudsman (PDDH) immediately characterized the homicide as an
"extrajudicial execution", and alleged that police had
brutally tortured suspects following their December 3, 2004
arrests to extract confessions (see reftel A). (Note:
Following comprehensive examinations by independent medical
experts that revealed no evidence of torture, the suspects
changed their accounts, and such allegations have since
played little role in the case. End note.) In February 2005
(see reftel B),credible allegations surfaced that PDDH
representatives had offered the detainees immigration
benefits, job offers, and money to change their testimony
implicating Soto's mother-in-law in his murder. A $75,000
reward offered by Soto's employer, the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT),yielded no meaningful leads,
despite a special Embassy hotline dedicated to the case
through 2005.


3. (C) The criminal court (Court of Instruction) on February
15 forwarded the case to the three-judge Usulutan sentencing
tribunal, after determining that prosecutors had presented
sufficient evidence to merit the cases's further proceeding
to trial. The sentencing tribunal called witnesses for both
the prosecution and defense through the remainder of the
week; Friday afternoon (February 17),Prosecutor Rodolfo
Montes Delgado expressed to emboffs his confidence that the
strong case the government had made against the defendants
promised an early outcome to the trial and guilty verdicts
for all. The following evening (Saturday, February 18),at
approximately 8:00 p.m., sentencing tribunal Judge Claudia
Yanira Callejas announced that the court had found Soto's
mother-in-law Rosa Elba Zelaya de Ortiz (alleged intellectual
author of the crime) and suspected shooter Santos Sanchez
Ayala innocent of all charges. Only Herbert Joel Ramirez
Gomez was found guilty; his sentencing is scheduled for 3:00
p.m. Friday, February 24.


4. (C) The Office of the Attorney General (FGR) has publicly
protested the not-guilty verdicts, and in accordance with
established Salvadoran procedures in non-jury criminal cases
will present a writ of extraordinary appeal (cassation)
before the criminal chamber of the Supreme Court (CSJ),and
seek to stop further enforcement of the sentencing tribunal's
verdicts. Under Salvadoran law, such motions can only be
filed after sentencing.


5. (C) COMMENT: The verdicts will no doubt generate more
controversy and renewed calls to find the "real
killers"--i.e., the shadowy "right-wing death squads" or
sinister corporate assassins of so many political observers'
imaginations.
Butler