[Background: I produced the following document for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to use at media events calling on Salvadoran President Tony Saca to support the Human Rights Counsel’s investigation of the November 2004 murder of Gilberto Soto.]

WRITING SAMPLE FOR LAWRENCE M. LADUTKE

U.S. Teamster leader Gilberto Soto was assassinated in El Salvador last November during a fact finding mission to report on truck drivers in Central America. Salvadoran Human Rights Counsel Dr. Beatrice de Carrillo criticized the police for failing to investigate evidence that this murder was politically motivated. She also found evidence that the government based its argument that this was a case of common crime solely on illegal confessions extracted through torture. Rather than correcting its mistakes, the Salvadoran government responded by disparaging the Dr. de Carrillo and the Office of the Human Rights Counsel (PDDH). There have also been threats and attacks directed against de Carrillo and her subordinates. It is important understand these events in the context of the government’s longstanding efforts to undermine this crucial human rights institution.

Prior to the end of the Salvadoran civil war in 1992, state agencies such as police and the courts systematically obstructed human rights investigations and protected the perpetrators. The peace accords between the government and the guerrillas therefore created the independent Office of the Human Rights Counsel to conduct investigations, make recommendations, and disseminate its findings.

The Salvadoran journalists I interviewed frequently complained about the lack of access to information in their nation. It was almost impossible for them to perform their role as public watchdogs in the postwar era because the government continued to hide basic information that U.S. citizens would take for granted. They therefore depended upon the professional investigations conducted by the PDDH under Dr. Carlos Molina Fonseca and Dr. Victoria de Avilés.

The PDDH’s oversight was also needed because of the continuing irregularities within the police and the courts. In 1995, for example, agents from the new civilian police force abducted medical student Adriano Vilanova, beat him to death, and threw his body in a ravine. The government then claimed he had either been hit by a car or committed suicide. Public officials also accused anyone who questioned these explanations of being a Communist bent on destroying the nation. Dr. de Avilés, however, discovered that the investigation was being conducted by an irregular police structure which bore similarities to wartime death squads. Her report resulted in the dissolution of this clandestine office and contributed to the 1998 conviction of five police officers.

The United Nations frequently praised the PDDH’s work and called for the government to strengthen the institution. The Salvadoran government, however, responded to the PDDH’s achievements by reducing its budget. As a result, the agency had to rely upon donations from foreign governments to function. PDDH employees, as well as the Human Rights Counsels themselves, have also faced frequent death threats. Perhaps the biggest blow came when the government appointed Eduardo Peñate Polanco to head the PDDH in 1998. The agency quickly lost credibility as he purged the institution, squandered its meager finances, and denied access to the media. After a long protest campaign by civil society organizations, Peñate Polanco was finally forced to resign in 2000. The institution has since rebuilt its reputation under Dr. de Carrillo’s leadership.

It is important to note that all of these actions against the PDDH happened while President Elias Antonio Saca’s party, ARENA, held the presidency of El Salvador. The ARENA administrations of Presidents Cristiani, Calderón Sol, and Francisco Flores were also responsible for problems such as the militarization and corruption of the new (supposedly civilian) police force. President Saca now has the opportunity, however, to demonstrate that he is different from his predecessors by strengthening the PDDH and supporting Human Rights Counsel de Carrillo.

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