UN reaffirms support for victims of Salvadoran massacre in search of justice

United Nations reaffirmed this Saturday its support for the survivors and relatives of the victims of the El Mozote massacre, perpetrated in 1981 by the Army of The Savior, in search of justice.

“40 years after the massacre, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is here once again to express its solidarity and its support with the pain of each person and with the pain that still marks El Salvador” said Alberto Brunori, regional representative for Central America of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Brunori, who participated in the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the massacre, said that “we will continue to directly accompany the urgency for justice that can no longer wait” and “support the initiatives that are dedicated to the preservation of memory and knowledge of the truth of what happened so that these outrageous events do not happen again ”.

“The promise is there. Breaking impunity for this and other serious human rights violations. That impunity that is manifested as a tie that limits the scope of peace, because we must recognize that peace is not only reached by silencing weapons, but also by the paths of justice, “he said.

And he added: “A justice that must be independent, impartial, prompt and fulfilled. Prompt has not been in the case of El Mozote, but we trust that it will be so ”.

The OHCHR representative was one of the guests at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the massacre that took place in the El Mozote village, located in the eastern municipality of Meanguera, 187 kilometers from San Salvador.

During the activity, organized by the survivors and their families, a minute of silence was given for the victims, by Wilfredo Medrano, lawyer and member of the non-governmental organization Tutela Legal “María Julia Hernández”, who died this year, and offerings were placed flowers at the monument dedicated to the victims.

According to the Report of the United Nations Truth Commission in El Salvador, between December 10 and 13, 1981 units of the Atlacatl Battalion “deliberately and systematically” tortured and executed children, men and women of El Mozote and others. surrounding.

A state registry estimates the number of victims of El Mozote at at least 1,730, of which 988 were executed, 48 survived the massacre, 665 are relatives of the murdered people and 29 suffered forced displacement.

The civil war (1980-1992) confronted the Salvadoran Army, financed by the United States, and the guerrillas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN, left), now an opposition political party.