On September 11, 2020, Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, found former Salvadoran Colonel, Inocente Orlando Montano (now 77 years old), guilty of the “terrorist murders” of five Jesuit priests who were Spaniards, in San Salvador, the Capital of El Salvador, 31 years ago. The court found that Montano took part in the decision … Continue reading Guilty Judgment in 1989 Murder of Jesuit Priests in El Salvador
On January 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of State issued a press statement by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, entitled “Religious Freedom Designations.” According to that statement, he had designated Cuba and 11 other countries as “Countries of Particular Concern” which by statute are those “countries that commit systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of … Continue reading U.S. Designates Cuba as a “Country of Particular Concern” Regarding Religious Freedom
On June 8, 2020, the Spanish National Court in Madrid will commence a trial over the November 16, 1989, murders in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter. The sole defendant will be Inocente Orlando Montano, who at the time was a Colonel and the Vice-Minister of Public Security in that … Continue reading Spanish Court Upcoming Trial Over 1989 Murders of Salvadoran Jesuit Priests
On January 29, 2020, the U.S. State Department sanctioned 13 former Salvadoran military officers for the 1989 murders of the Jesuit priests.[1] Ranging “in rank from general to private, [the following men] were involved in the planning and execution of the extrajudicial killings of six Jesuit priests and two others taking refuge at the Jesuit … Continue reading U.S. Sanctions 13 Former Salvadoran Military Officers for 1989 Murders of Jesuit Priests
On February 21, Pope Francis approved the beatification of Padre Rutilio Grande, a Salvadoran Jesuit priest who was murdered on March 12, 1977, by a Salvadoran death squad for his advocacy for people who were persecuted by the country’s military and death squads.[1] His ministry and slaying inspired then Archbishop Oscar Romero (now Saint Romero) … Continue reading Pope Francis Approves Beatification of Padre Rutilio Grande
# Date Title Personal 42 05/22/11 The Sanctuary Movement Case 44 05/24/11 Becoming a Pro Bono Asylum Lawyer 45 05/25/11 My Pilgrimage to El Salvador, April 1989 El Salvador’s Amnesty Law 61 06/11/11 International Criminal Justice: El Salvador’s General Amnesty Law and Its Impact on the Jesuits Case 63 06/14/11 El Salvador’s General … Continue reading List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: EL SALVADOR
Number Date Title January 2020 1515 01/01/20 Pope Francis Reminding Us To Welcome, Protect, Promote and Integrate Refugees and Migrants 1516 01/03/20 Another U.S. Designation of Cubans Inelligible To Enter U.S. 1498A 01/07/20 North Dakota County Affirms Consent to Refugee Resettlement 1517 01/07/20 Five More States Have Consented to Refugee Resettlement 1518 01/08/20 … Continue reading List of Posts to dwkcommentaries–Chronological (2020)
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has proposed a rule that would significantly shorten the time for asylum seekers to file their paperwork for asylum and to amend that paperwork.[1] Given my experience as a pro bono attorney for such individuals, I filed with the EOIR a comment objecting to … Continue reading Objections to Proposed U.S. Rule Changing Asylum Procedures
Carolyn Forché, an American poet and author, [1] then 27-29 years old, lived in El Salvador, January 1978—March 1980. Her memoir recounts her amazing sojourn in this country, which then was on the precipice of a brutal civil war.[2] As an admirer of Monseñor (now Saint) Oscar Romero, I was especially interested in her accounts … Continue reading One of Saint Oscar Romero’s Final Conversations
A prior post discussed poet-memoirist Carolyn Forché’s four encounters with Archbishop (now Saint) Oscar Romero that were included in her memoir, What You Have Heard Is True. Recently Forché had additional comments about Romero in an interview by Robin Lindley, a Seattle-based writer and attorney and features editor of the History Notes Network.[1]Here is what … Continue reading Carolyn Forché’s Additional Comments about Saint Oscar Romero
