El Salvador: Current information on attacks specifically targeted against individual military personnel and/or their families (mid-1991)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1991 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SLV9021 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, El Salvador: Current information on attacks specifically targeted against individual military personnel and/or their families (mid-1991), 1 July 1991, SLV9021, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abd570.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The only mid-1991 reference to a rebel attack specifically aimed at an individual military officer found among the sources currently available to the IRBDC is described in the articles attached and listed below. They refer to the murder of army captain Carlos Alfredo López Aviles in San Salvador on 17 June 1991. The assassination was allegedly carried out in revenge for the assassination of FMLN commander Hector or Jesús Rojas (whose true name is reported in various sources as being Antonio Cardenal) (Radio Cadena YSKL 17 June 1991). The murder of the army captain is also mentioned in the IRBDC's weekly media review available at your Regional Documentation Centre.
Before captain López's assassination, in mid-April 1991, the FMLN responded to the killing of the rebel commander Antonio Cardenal by publicly declaring that "army chiefs [were] fair game" or potential targets for attack (Associated Press 15 April 1991). A source reports the FMLN General Command as warning the armed forces that the killing of Cardenal "[gives] validity to our attacks against its commanders" (El Rescate May 1991, 33).
Nevertheless, the only officer reported by the available sources to have been the victim of selective assassination since then is the above-mentioned army captain.
Various sources report frequent killing by rebels of army or other security forces guards while they are alone on duty outside a public office or facility, as well as attacks against soldiers and officers riding official vehicles. However, details of these killings suggesting selection based on the individual's personal background, or information on attacks against their families, could not be found among the available sources.
Bibliography
El Salvador Chronology - April 1991. Los Angeles: El Rescate Human Rights Department, May 1991.
Associated Press. 15 April 1991, AM Cycle. "Salvadoran Rebels Vow Retaliation for Commander's Slaying." (NEXIS)
FBIS-LAT-91-117. 18 June 1991. "FMLN Claims Responsibility" in Radio Cadena YSKL [San Salvador, in Spanish], 17 June 1991.
Attachments
El Salvador Chronology - April 1991. Los Angeles: El Rescate Human Rights Department, May 1991. P. 33.
FBIS-LAT-91-117. 18 June 1991. "Army Captain Murdered by Unidentified Persons" in ACAN [Panama City, in Spanish], 17 June 1991.
. "FMLN Claims Responsibility" in Radio Cadena
YSKL [San Salvador, in Spanish], 17 June 1991.