Seattle University commemorated the Nov. 16 20th anniversary of the grisly political assassination of six Catholic priests, their housekeeper and her high school-age daughter by forces of a military-backed government in El Salvador. The murders provoked worldwide outrage at the U.S.-backed regime that was engaged in a civil war at the time.
The murdered priests were all members of the Catholic Church's Jesuit order; Seattle University, a Jesuit school, is one of many universities and institutions in this country and elsewhere holding commemorations. The government in El Salvador at the time regarded the Jesuits as subversives for urging a negotiated end to the conflict. El Salvador's current president, Mauricio Funes, recently said the country would award the victims the country's highest honor. A large-scale vigil was held in El Salvador over night (BBC pictures here).
Some of the soldiers involved in the murders had received training at the
former School of the Americas at Fort Benning in Georgia. The base now houses what is called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, which also engages in training forces from other parts of the Americas. Activists from around the country, including Seattle, will begin an annual
series of protests there later this week.
An international human rights group, the Center for Justice and Accountability, helped bring pending legal action in Spain against 14 former officers of El Salvador's military. Information from the Center is
here.
