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- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: El Salvador: Americas Watch on ONUSAL
- Message-ID: <1992Sep4.004611.27416@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
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- Organization: PACH
- Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 00:46:11 GMT
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-
- /** reg.elsalvador: 159.0 **/
- ** Topic: Americas Watch on ONUSAL **
- ** Written 2:05 pm Sep 3, 1992 by hrwatchdc in cdp:reg.elsalvador **
- EL SALVADOR
- PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS:
- SUCCESSES AND SHORTCOMINGS OF THE
- UNITED NATIONS OBSERVER MISSION
- IN EL SALVADOR (ONUSAL)
-
- (Washington, DC) In a report released September 2, the human
- rights monitoring group Americas Watch praised the work of the
- United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL), saying
- that its presence in the country has dramatically improved the
- observance of human rights. The size of the mission, its deployment
- throughout the country, and its unprecedented ability to visit any
- government facility without prior notice have contributed to the
- mission's dissuasive or preventive impact.
-
- However, Americas Watch concluded that some senior ONUSAL
- officials had mistakenly viewed its promotion human rights and its
- overseeing of the implementation of the peace accords as
- contradictory. As a conse- quence, ONUSAL has been timid in openly
- criticizing the government on human rights matters, even when its
- own investigations have pointed to state involvement in abuses.
- Americas Watch noted that ONUSAL has yet to use fully the ultimate
- recourse of public censure, something which detracts from
- its effectiveness and allows perpetrators of abuse to escape
- broader detection. Americas Watch called on ONUSAL to be more
- forceful and timely in its representations to both the government
- and the FMLN, and to make public the information it has at its
- disposal.
-
- Americas Watch also urged ONUSAL to adopt a broader
- interpretation of its human rights mandate, by deepening its
- involvement in the creation of the new National Civil Police and by
- recommending additional ways to improve the judicial system. The
- human rights group also called on ONUSAL to live up to its earlier
- intention to carry out a vigorous educational campaign with the
- public, by devoting the appropriate financial and human resources
- to that work. Americas Watch recommended continued, if not expanded
- support of the mission's Human Rights Division, especially given
- that tensions are likely to rise following the full demobilization
- of the FMLN and the beginning of the 1994 electoral campaign.
-
- Americas Watch emphasized that ONUSAL's success in bringing
- about structural change in El Salvador is fundamentally dependent
- on the political will of the Salvadoran government. The government
- must take seriously ONUSAL's recommendations, something which has
- been gravely lacking to date.
-
- Americas Watch maintained that, just as a human rights
- agreement played a central role in bringing about the peace
- agreement, so the observance of human rights is central to
- maintaining the peace. This is true not only in the narrow sense of
- guaranteeing the physical integrity of former combatants, but is
- also true if El Salvador is to build a democratic society founded
- on accountability and the rule of law.
- * * *
-
- Americas Watch was established in 1981 to monitor and promote
- the observance of internationally recognized human rights. Americas
- Watch is one of the five regional divisions of Human Rights Watch.
- The Chair of Americas Watch is Peter D. Bell; Vice Chairs, Stephen
- L. Kass and Marina Pinto Kaufman; Executive Director, Juan E.
- Me'ndez; Associate Directors, Cynthia Arnson and Anne Manuel;
- Director of San Salvador Office, David Holiday; Representative in
- Buenos Aires, Patricia Pittman; Consultant, Robin Kirk; Research
- Associate, Mary Jane Camejo; Associates, Vanessa Jime'nez, R.
- Benjamin Penglase and Clifford C. Rohde.
-
- Human Rights Watch is composed of five regional divisions --
- Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Helsinki Watch and Middle
- East Watch -- and the Fund for Free Expression. Its Chair is Robert
- L. Bernstein; Vice Chair, Adrian W. DeWind; Executive Director,
- Aryeh Neier; Deputy Director, Kenneth Roth; Associate Director,
- Gara LaMarche; Washington Director, Holly J. Burkhalter; California
- Director, Ellen Lutz; Press Director, Susan Osnos; Counsel, Jemera
- Rone.
-
- For more information:
-
- Cindy Arnson 202/371-6592
- David Holiday 011-503-25-28-85
-
- To obtain a copy of the 29 page report, please send (check or U.S.
- money order) US $3.60 (for domestic orders) or US$ 4.80 (for
- international orders) to Publications Department, Human Rights
- Watch, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
- ** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **
-