Spain's National Court has opened an official investigation into 14 former El Salvador military officers over the 1989 torture and killing of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter during the central American nation's civil war. The event, which came to known as the "Jesuit Massacre," became one of the most notorious episodes of El Salvador's 12 year civil war, CNN reports.
Some 75,000 people died in the conflict, which pitted leftist guerrillas against the US backed conservative government.
Most of the slain Jesuits were born in Spain. They were killed at their residence at prestigious Central American University, in El Salvador's capital, San Salvador.
Two military officers were convicted of murder in 1991 but were pardoned in 1993 under an amnesty law approved by the National Assembly.
The case was taken to Spain's National Court because of its involvement in other high profile human rights cases. Two human rights groups filed the petition, arguing that justice was never done in El Salvador.
Human rights lawyer Manuel Olle called the announcement on Tuesday "another step in the fight against impunity."
The activists also accused El Salvador's former president, Alfredo Cristiani, of involvement in what came to be known as the "Jesuit Massacre." The court did not include him in the case, but it reserved the right to add him later to the list of defendants.
Former Defence Minister Humberto Larios and former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Rene Emilio Ponce were among those placed under investigation.
None of the 14 officers have been formally charged with a crime.
Spain and El Salvador have an extradition treaty, opening up the possibility that the central American country could send the former officials to Madrid to stand trial.
If they are ever tried and convicted by a Spanish court, they could serve up to 30 years in prison.
Ignacio Martin-Baro, one of slain Jesuits, spoke to CNN shortly before he was killed about the chilling effect of the long running Salvadoran civil war.
"We have become used to violence," Martin-Baro said. "We have become used to living in a very dangerous world. We have learned to live, accepting death, extraordinary abnormal death into our lives."
For years, the extreme right in El Salvador had accused the Jesuits of siding with the leftist guerrillas. Uniformed troops were seen searching the living quarters of the priests at Central American University two days before they were killed, CNN reported at the time.
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(Source: CTHN)