GOES CONCERNED ROMERO CASE AT IACHR WOULD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001906 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ES SUBJECT: GOES CONCERNED ROMERO CASE AT IACHR WOULD UNDERMINE AMNESTY: CONSIDERS WITHDRAWAL FROM HUMAN RIGHTS COURT Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Contacts both within and outside the GOES have expressed concern that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is hearing a case that involves a complaint related to El Salvador,s civil war. Thus, the case falls under the reservation with which El Salvador joined the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court),i.e., exempting all cases related to El Salvador,s civil war from the jurisdiction of those bodies. If the case in question (concerning the murder of Monsignor Romero during the civil war) is heard by the Court, it would undermine El Salvador,s amnesty statute, which is viewed as a key instrument for cementing peace in the country. Should the IACHR refer this complaint to the Court, the GOES has indicated it would feel compelled to withdraw from the convention creating the Court and reject its jurisdiction. A group of three Salvadorans who represented both sides in the peace negotiations plans to travel to Washington in October to argue before the Commission that the case should not be referred to the Court. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Oscar Bonilla, President of El Salvador,s Public Security Council (and former wartime FMLN unofficial envoy in Europe) and Salvador Samayoa (member of the National Development Committee and FMLN signatory to the peace accords) have both raised their concerns about a case currently before the IACHR concerning the 1980 murder of Monsignor Romero. The case is being presented by an NGO (CEJIL) with the support of WOLA, several Chilean attorneys, and others. In the IACHR,s last meeting on the case, the proposed mediation settlement contained conditions viewed here as impossible, among them the removal of the monument to ARENA founder D,Aubuisson. ¶3. (C) El Salvador placed a reservation on its participation in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in the IACHR that excluded all cases related to the civil war from the court,s jurisdiction. Both Bonilla and Samayoa have told us that the GOES will withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights and reject the Court,s jurisdiction in this case if it is referred to and heard by the Court. They report some in the GOES are prepared to take that move preemptively. ¶4. (C)The GOES is considering an approach to the Vatican to seek the Holy See,s support for dropping the case from the IACHR without derailing Romero,s beatification. Bonilla tells us the GOES is also seeking OAS support for removing this case from the IACHR. On October 10, a delegation comprised of Oscar Santamaria, a peace negotiator and former minister of justice and of foreign affairs, David Escobar Galindo, another peace negotiator, and Salvador Samayoa, the FMLN,s signatory to the peace accords, will meet with the IACHR to convince it of the dangers presented by derogating El Salvador,s amnesty law. Samayoa told us September 20 that the group would be willing to discuss this case with Department officials while in Washington. ¶5. (C) Comment and Action Request: El Salvador,s post-war amnesty law is credited with helping maintain and cement the peace. We are struck by the fact that officials of the center-left who were formerly representatives of the FMLN are among those most concerned about the consequences that could follow a challenge to it. While the GOES seeks a solution to this problem short of withdrawal from the Court, it is clear to us that it is prepared to take that step. Embassy recommends Department and USOAS see Samayoa, Escobar, and Santamaria in October. Butler