Lawyers warn that it is a precedent for the current deputies to be easily prosecuted in the future for what they do or say now, in addition to favoring those accused of the massacre in El Mozote.
Lawyers warn that it is a precedent for the current deputies to be easily prosecuted in the future for what they do or say now, in addition to favoring those accused of the massacre in El Mozote.
The arrest warrant against Rubén Zamora and other executors of the 1992 peace accords violates the Constitution, which protects deputies from any reprisal for the acts in which they commit their functions.
Article 125 of the Constitution of the Republic clearly states this: “Do you represent the entire people and are not bound by any imperative mandate.” They are inviolable, and will have no responsibility in any time for the opinions or votes they cast.
That is why several organizations describe as political persecution – the arrest warrant against Rubén Zamora, which rather favors the defendants of the El Mozote massacre.
Historian Héctor Lindo does not hesitate to describe as unconstitutional the provisional detention decision issued by the San Francisco Gotera Examining Court against former deputies of the Legislative Assembly for the issuance of the 1993 Amnesty Law, while other jurists consider that it would be a precedent for prosecuting other legislators, including the current ones.
Accusation R. Zamora UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 1841-1939 Constitutional protection of the freedom of debate of Members: exemption from responsibility in time – for their oral or written opinions. 1950-1983 More explicit protection of the opinions or votes they cast, Lindo posted on its social networks.
The arrest warrant is against former deputies Luis Roberto Angulo Samayoa, Rubén Ignacio Zamora Rivas, Raúl Manuel Somoza Alfaro and Raúl Antonio Peña Flores, and the former president of the Republic, Alfredo Félix Cristiani, to whom the court accuses the alleged commission of personal cover-up.
The Citizen Resistance movement, of which Zamora is part, also points out in a statement the unconstitutionality of the resolution.
Even if Rubén Ignacio Zamora’s opinions, votes and signature have been against the Amnesty Law, the judge issues an unconstitutional ruling, she says.
On this issue, a judge consulted by El Diario de Hoy, who asked for anonymity, pointed out that there is protection by constitutional jurisdiction to the deputies who think and vote in the exercise of their office, which implies that they cannot be processed for the votes it has cast.
The precedent could affect the current deputies of the current legislature: They could be prosecuted in the future for serious human rights violations during this period: for arbitrary acts, for co-authorship in homicides, torture, deprivation of liberty, the judge said. in this case, Zamora did not vote in favour.
However, in the case of those mentioned, it considers that this is a form of selective justice and a lack of independence of judges. Other lawyers point to an instrumentalization of the judiciary.
Are we facing the instrumentalization of justice for purposes other than those of justice. What this suggests is that they will continue to use the independent judges to criminalize dissidents, silence criticism and any other purpose that is useful to them. This is what happens when judicial independence disappears and in El Salvador this happened on May 1, 2021, said José Marinero, a lawyer.
The Courts decision even declares the crime of personal cover-up as a crime against humanity and consequently imprescriptible – attributed to the defendants mentioned in the decision.
Decision favors accused of massacre
The Court accuses some of the members of the Board of Directors of the Legislative Assembly, including some already deceased, as responsible for the amnesty law that favored impunity for the accused as material perpetrators of the El Mozote massacre perpetuated in December 1981.
For the Cristosal organization, the arrest warrant would be a strategy to delay a process that has been waiting for justice 42 years ago and that the resolution does not issue an arrest warrant against military personnel accused of participating in serious crimes.
“Given the characteristics of the resolution, Christ salon expresses his concern at the possible risk that, in a case of such relevance, the judicial apparatus will be activated for purposes beyond justice and reparation for the victims,” the pronouncement says.
He recalled that in December 2021, together with Guardiaa Legal, they filed a complaint with the Administrative Dispute Chamber challenging the appointment of Judge Mirtala Portillo to the investigating court of San Francisco Gotera, a lawsuit that has not been answered.
This resolution is not progress but a delay that favors victims. For the military who ordered the murder of a thousand people and rape dozens of women and girls, there is no arrest. Nor against those who hide the military files. It is the political manipulation of justice, said David Morales, lawyer who is a plaintiff El Mozote case.
Political persecution
Human rights movements and organizations condemned the arrest warrant issued by the San Francisco Gotera Examining Court against Zamora, and call it political persecution, as well as considering a delaying measure on the part of the court in the criminal case for the massacre in El Mozote and surrounding places.
“We consider as part of the political persecution that this government has against those who raise the democratic flag against the dictatorial regime of the Bukele baccalaureate, the judge’s decision has the characteristic of an arrest warrant with political dyes,” the Citizen Resistance pronouncement reads
This movement is one of those that has repeatedly pointed to the unconstitutionality of Bukele’s candidacy for immediate presidential reelection.
Accusing the 1993 Board of Directors of the Assembly is intended to prosecute and imprison Dr. Rubén Ignacio Zamora for his outstanding political activity of belligerence in the face of the performance of the current administration of government, emphasized the movement.
The SUMAR movement also condemned the arrest warrant. Condemn the political persecution and instrumentalization of restorative justice, published on the social network X.
We demand an end to the persecution of political leader Rubén Zamora, that the archives of the Armed Forces on the massacre of the Mozote and on other crimes committed by the military be published, and that judges not linked to the regime be given justice, says the pronouncement of the Block of Resistance and People’s Rebellion (BRP).
For its part, the Human Rights Collective “Herbert Anaya” asks the court to withdraw the arrest warrant. The Human Rights Collective “Herbert Anaya Sanabria” strongly denounces the gross accusation against Rubén Zamora by the judicial arm of Nayib Bukele’s dictatorial regime. At the same time, we urge the San Francisco Gotera Examining Court to withdraw the arrest warrant addressed to his person.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in El Salvador