Today, on International Right to Truth Day, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights is honored to share a new multimedia publication, celebrating the life and legacy of ANDES 21 de Junio union organizer and educator Efraín Arévalo Ibarra, who was disappeared by the government of El Salvador in 1977.
“He Couldn’t Close His Eyes to Injustice,” told in collaboration with the Arévalo Ibarra family, weaves together declassified U.S. government documents obtained as part of UWCHR’s Unfinished Sentences project, stories from Mr. Arévalo Ibarra’s surviving family members, family photographs, and illustrations by Salvadoran artist Miguel Membreño.
The publication features excerpts from the homilies of the priest and human rights advocate Archbishop Óscar Romero mentioning the Arévalo Ibarra family, including a mention of the family’s plight just one week before the Archbishop himself was assassinated forty-six years ago today, on March 24, 1980.
In honor of both Monsignor Romero’s and Efraín Arévalo Ibarra’s commitment to justice and defense of human rights in El Salvador, we are excited to share this new report on March 24, International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims—an annual observance honoring Monsignor Romero.
Family members and friends of Efraín—including Efraín’s three daughters, son, and brother—reflected on the project by sharing, “We hope that this collaborative effort ensures the memory, the celebration, and the dissemination of the life and legacy of our father, brother, and friend, Efrain Arevalo Ibarra. It is our sincere hope that this work helps our country and the world remember that such tragedies must never be repeated, now or in the future.”