IACHR Began its 45 Special Session in Ecuador

IACHR Session in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court) began today in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil its 45 special session which will last until Friday and that will review complaints against El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Presiding judge, Diego Garcia Sayan said yesterday in an appearance before the press that these hearings will serve to meet the arguments of the parties of each case and clarified that the presence of the court in Ecuador is not intended to analyze the situation of human rights in the country.

The Court set for tomorrow at a public hearing on the complaint of killings attributed to successive Salvadoran militaries, who are accused of killing over a thousand people in 1981, the event is known as “El Mozote”. According to the Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), based in Washington, this is “one of the most heinous of crimes against humanity” committed by the Salvadoran military.

On Wednesday, the Court, based in Costa Rica, will have a public hearing against the Guatemalan government in the case Gudiel Alvarez or “Military Journal,” the forced disappearance and extrajudicial execution of 26 people, released in 1999.

On Thursday, another public hearing, the Court will treat the case of disappearance and possible murder in 1984 of Guatemalan trade union and student leader Edgar Fernando García.

Finally, the Court plans to discuss on Friday closed the case known as “Pacheco Teruel”, whose international responsibility has agreed to the Honduran government for the deaths of 107 people incarcerated in the center of San Pedro Sula prison in May 2004. (FL)