Deporting Human Rights Abusers
Deporting Human Rights Abusers
By James Estrin Nov. 15, 2014
By James Estrin Nov. 15, 2014Nov. 15, 2014
When three Maryknoll nuns and a lay churchwoman were raped and killed in El Salvador in December 1980, the story sparked global outrage. Although five Salvadoran national guardsmen were eventually tried and convicted, no higher-ups were ever held responsible for the murders.
A video featured this week on NYTimes.com looks back at the murders and examines recent attempts to deport two Salvadoran generals who have lived in Florida for almost 25 years. This video is part of a continuing series presented by The New York Times and produced by the journalistic nonprofit Retro Report that looks at past news events from a current perspective. It was produced by the former Times correspondents Kit R. Roane and Raymond Bonner and edited by Jeff Bernier. An accompanying article by Clyde Haberman examines efforts to deport those who abuse human rights.
“If immigration courts have their way, the ranks of the deported will include two Salvadoran generals who were defense ministers in the 1980s, blood-soaked years in that country,” Mr. Haberman wrote.
“These men, José Guillermo García, now 81, and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, 77, have been living in Florida for a quarter-century. They were allowed to settle there during the presidency of George Bush, who, like his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, considered them allies and bulwarks against a Moscow-backed leftist insurgency. But administrations change, and so do government attitudes. Over the past two and a half years, immigration judges in Florida have ruled that the generals bore responsibility for assassinations and massacres, and deserve now to be ‘removed’ — bureaucratese for deported. Both are appealing the decisions, so for now they are going nowhere. Given their ages, their cases may be, for all parties, a race against time.”
Video at link.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/deporting-human-rights-abusers/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
