Human rights body applauds removal of Salvadoran amnesty law

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has applauded the decision by El Salvador’s Supreme Court to scrap a blanket amnesty for those who participated in the country’s 12-year civil war.

The commission said in a statement Monday that the ruling brings El Salvador in line with the region’s human rights system. It said the amnesty law adopted in 1993 had been an “insurmountable obstacle” for thousands of victims of human rights violations.

Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said Saturday that he had begun talks with political parties on a new “national reconciliation” law. He has criticized the court’s decision finding the amnesty law unconstitutional.

The amnesty had been approved days after a truth commission released a report finding El Salvador’s military responsible for the vast majority of the conflict’s abuses.