Salvadoran friend of Canada testifies against Romero's killer

Catholic New Times, Sept 26, 2004

BY CNT STAFF

In a Fresno, California civil court on Sept. 3, Judge Oliver Wanger issued a historic decision holding Modesto resident Alvaro Saravia responsible for his role in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador.

Romero was gunned down as he was saying Mass on March 24, 1980. Judge Wanger ordered Saravia to pay $10 million to the plaintiff, a relative of the archbishop, who has not been identified for security reasons.

Until Sept. 3, no single individual has been held responsible for the assassination, one of the most shocking murders of the last part of the 20th century.

Announcing the monetary award in the civil case, Judge Wanger stated that "the damages are of a magnitude that is hardly describable."

Judge Wanger ruled that the evidence clearly established Saravia's responsibility for organizing the murder. He also determined that the murder constitutes a crime against humanity, because it was part of a widespread and systematic attack intended to terrorize a civilian population.

Judge Wanger stated: "Here the evidence shows that there was a consistent and unabating regime that was in control of El Salvador, and that this regime essentially functioned as a militarily-controlled government." The government perpetrated "systematic violations of human rights for the purpose of perpetuating the oligarchy and the military government."

He concluded that what happened in El Salvador was the "antithesis of due process" and that there could not be a clearer example of extra-judicial killing than the killing of Archbishop Romero.

Judge Wanger's ruling is one of the few in the United States finding an individual liable for crimes against humanity. Saravia was not in court and has gone into hiding.

The case was brought by the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), based in San Francisco.

One of the prime witnesses in the case was Dr. Francisco Acosta, now living in Washington. In 1982, Acosta travelled through Canada making Canadians aware of the depravity of the death squads and their brutal assault on human rights. One of his hosts at that time was the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association. Acosta appeared on CBC's radio show The Current on Sept. 3 where he reminisced about his time in Canada as a political refugee and thanked Canadian groups like the Canadian Labour Congress for their support at that time.

In an email to CNT Acosta said that "When I was called to the stand, I was sworn in. Then the judge asked me to identify on a map of El Salvador where I was born. used a laser pointer to explain where the Guazapa Volcano was located. The lawyer proceeded to interview me about how I met Archbishop Romero, and to describe the various times when my life had been threatened, when my relatives were killed, and when Archbishop Romero saved my brother Jorge's life. As I described some of the things I had witnessed, I could see in the face of the judge that he was moved, and many people in the audience, including the lawyers, had tears in their eyes."

"During my lifetime, I have been in situations in which my life was in danger at least seven times. I've always wondered why it didn't happen. There must be a reason I am still alive, a mission I have not yet accomplished. I feel that this was the opportunity to fulfill part of that mission. As I sat in the witness chair I felt an enormous responsibility. I did my best to represent the thousands of people who never had the chance to speak against the injustice and impunity they lived under."

Acosta, who founded the Archbishop Romero University in El Salvador, stated on radio program "For us, Oscar Romero was like Martin Luther King for the United States, or Gandhi for India. I knew that the opportunity to tell the truth in a legal court of the most powerful country in the world will help to provide a sense of closure for all of Salvadoran society. At last, steps have been taken to reverse impunity for human rights violators."

An editorial in The New York Times said that the trial "does raise disturbing questions about U.S. policy. How did Mr. Saravia come to live in California in the first place? Declassified State Department and Central Intelligence Agency documents reveal that the government was aware of Mr. Saravia's alleged involvement in the Romero assassination as early as May 1980."