{"id":2314,"date":"2016-11-30T20:00:17","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T20:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humanrights.washington.edu\/?p=2314"},"modified":"2018-04-03T19:27:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T19:27:35","slug":"salvadoran-american-children-of-the-disappeared-search-for-our-parents-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/2016\/11\/30\/salvadoran-american-children-of-the-disappeared-search-for-our-parents-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"Salvadoran-American Children of the Disappeared Search for “Our Parents’ Bones”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1993, the UN Truth Commission for El Salvador estimated that some 10,000 Salvadoran civilians were forcibly disappeared during the country\u2019s armed conflict. To this day, no meaningful inquiries have been launched to recover their remains or identify those responsible for these crimes. In El Salvador, relatives of the disappeared have been demanding justice for decades. In 2014, the Mauricio Aquino Foundation launched a campaign called “Our Parents’ Bones<\/a>,” led by children of the disappeared who now live in the United States. The campaign has hosted community events for children, family-members, and friends of the disappeared in cities across the U.S. With the support of the UWCHR’s Unfinished Sentences<\/a> project, the Our Parents\u2019 Bones campaign is also lobbying both the U.S. and Salvadoran governments to take action to uncover the truth about forced disappearances.<\/p>\n

On April 14, 2016, the UWCHR joined the Mauricio Aquino Foundation, the Washington Office on Latin America, and the Due Process of Law Foundation in spearheading a Congressional briefing<\/a>, hosted by the U.S. House of Representatives Central America Caucus and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. At the briefing, three family members of the disappeared shared their personal stories, alongside David Morales, El Salvador’s Human Rights Ombudsman, who argued that the systemic disregard of such cases has hampered El Salvador’s ability to fight contemporary crime today. As part of the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America, the Obama Administration intends a significant investment in rule of law efforts in El Salvador and neighboring countries; yet participants in this briefing insisted that absent indications of political will to tackle the tough cases\u2014from the past and present eras\u2014infusions of economic assistance will have little effect.<\/p>\n

In addition to sponsoring the briefing, members of the delegation met with numerous Congressional offices and with key officers at the State Department, and hosted two public presentations with local organizations. In response, Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Norma Torres (D-CA) circulated two Dear Colleague letters on the topic of El Salvador’s disappeared. In total, 26 Members of Congress signed a letter<\/a> asking the Obama administration to initiate a broad declassification of records pertaining to human rights in El Salvador; 21 Members of Congress also signed a letter to Salvadoran President Salvador S\u00e1nchez Cer\u00e9n soliciting the creation of a national commission in El Salvador to search for the disappeared.<\/p>\n

There is reason to think that Our Parents\u2019 Bones and Members of Congress\u2019 call for a declassification order on El Salvador might be successful\u2014earlier in 2016, the Obama Administration ordered government agencies to release files relating to U.S. involvement in the \u201cDirty Wars\u201d in both Argentina and Chile. The UWCHR’s research, and our ongoing FOIA lawsuit against the CIA, underscore the importance of precisely such a measure to surmount the limitations of the existing FOIA process and provide access to information that can help families\u2014in both El Salvador and the United States\u2014heal the wounds of war.<\/p>\n

The most compelling argument for further declassification and a renewed search for the remains of the disappeared, are the stories of those who lost family members to forced disappearance. Sara Aguilar, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and member of the Our Parents\u2019 Bones campaign, told the story of her father Rodolfo\u2019s disappearance<\/a> in a video created by the UWCHR. Sara\u2019s story was viewed more than 18,000 times and shared by hundreds of people, many of whom wrote emotional messages of sympathy and solidarity. Hundreds also took action after watching the video by writing to U.S. government officials with the power to influence declassification processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin my generation this happened.\u201d Sara says, \u201cAs a US citizen, I feel like it\u2019s the US\u2019s responsibility to declassify documents\u2026It\u2019s time now, 33, 35 years after the fact, it\u2019s time to know what happened, find some closure, and continue that process of healing.\u201d Watch Sara tell her story:<\/p>\n

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