VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #1373 3512305
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 162305Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0463
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3632

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ES SP
SUBJECT: SALVADORANS DISCUSS CRISTIANI CASE IN MADRID 
 
Classified By: Robert I. Blau, CDA, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Senior political figures from left and right 
in El Salvador traveled to Madrid in early December to 
discuss with the GOS the suit against former President 
Cristiani regarding the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests. 
Deputy Prosecutor of the Spanish Audiencia Nacional Burgos 
Pavon suggested to the Salvadorans the case would fail on its 
merits since it had been tried in Salvadoran courts and did 
not meet the threshold of genocide or a crime against 
humanity.  Other Spanish officials reportedly expressed 
embarrassment at this and other similar cases.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) According to media and other reports, U.S. and Spanish 
human rights groups, with support of surviving relatives of 
the victims, filed a lawsuit in Spanish court November 13 
charging former El Salvador president Alfredo Cristiani 
(1989-1994) with covering up crimes against humanity in the 
1989 murder of six Jesuit priests.  The suit also accuses 14 
former Salvadoran military officers of war crimes, murders, 
and state terrorism in connection with the same murders.  Two 
military officers were convicted of murder in 1991 in the 
deaths of the Jesuits, but were pardoned in 1993 under El 
Salvador,s Amnesty Law. 
 
¶3. (C) At the request of El Salvador's post-war 
ex-Presidents, former Minister of Justice and of Foreign 
Affairs Oscar Santamaria and former (left-wing) FMLN 
negotiator and peace accords signatory Salvador Samayoa 
traveled to Madrid December 7-10 to meet with GOS officials 
regarding the Cristiani case.  Samayoa told PolCouns December 
12 he and Santamaria met with Fernando Burgos Pavon, the 
Deputy Prosecutor for the National Court (Audiencia 
Nacional), who must prepare a report to the court on the 
complaint.  Samayoa said Burgos told them he viewed 
assertions of so-called "universal jurisdiction" as without 
merit, since the case had been tried in El Salvador.  In 
addition, the case did not qualify as a crime against 
humanity or genocide, but was merely a common crime.  Burgos 
suggested two possible ways forward.  First, delay, by making 
inquiries via official (i.e., glacially slow) diplomatic 
channels regarding handling of the case in El Salvador's 
judicial system.  Second, acceleration, where the GOES could 
proactively submit information (instead of waiting for a 
request from Madrid) on how the case was handled.  Burgos 
reportedly offered no preference between these options. 
 
¶4. (C) Samayoa said it was clear the GOS, including Secretary 
of State for Latin America Trinidad Jimenez at MFA, as well 
as interlocutors at La Moncloa (the office of the Spanish 
head of government) and at the Ministry of Justice, were 
dealing with the GOES as "friends and partners".  He said 
they expressed embarrassment about this and other cases 
before the Audiencia Nacional, including cases against 
members of the current U.S. administration and "half" the 
government in Beijing.  Samayoa said the Salvadoran 
Ambassador in Madrid had spoken to the Chief Prosecutor of 
the Audiencia Nacional the previous week and had received a 
similar message of support and cooperation.  He said it had 
been impossible to meet with former President Felipe Gonzalez 
this trip. 
 
¶5. (C) Comment: The murder of the Jesuits was an event of 
pre-meditated cruelty that had the effect of accelerating 
efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Civil War. 
Cristiani was part of that search for a solution and had been 
dealing personally with some of the Jesuits.  Across the 
political spectrum, our interlocutors have expressed dismay 
at the charges against Cristiani, almost universally 
rejecting outside interference in reopening cases from El 
Salvador's civil war that were dealt with by the peace 
commission and covered by El Salvador's Amnesty Law.  It 
seems unlikely this case in Spain will become an issue in 
2009 elections. 
BLAU