Death squads in El Salvador (Spanish: escuadrones de la muerte) were far-rightparamilitary groups acting in opposition to Marxist–Leninistguerrilla forces, most notably of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), and their allies among the civilian population before, during, and after the Salvadoran Civil War. The death squads committed the vast majority of the murders and massacres during the civil war from 1979 to 1992 and were heavily aligned with the United States-backed government.[1][2][3]
According to the Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH), death squads remain active in El Salvador. The PDDH registered 25 extrajudicial executions of gang members between May 2022 and May 2023 which it attributed to death squad activity during the country's gang crackdown.[4]
During the Salvadoran Civil War, the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador officially dissolved the National Democratic Organization, leaving its paramilitaries to break free and operate independently.[13] The paramilitaries openly targeted members of the FMLN and civilians, notably workers of human rights organizations.[14]
Despite officially having no connection to the government, the death squads and paramilitaries were almost always soldiers from the Armed Forces of El Salvador, meaning the death squads were indirectly funded and armed by the United States.[15][16] Further funding also came from right-wing politicians and businessmen.[17] Several death squads held fascist ideologies.[18]
Post-civil war
During negotiations to end the civil war in what are now the Chapultepec Peace Accords, part of the agreements were that the government of El Salvador would crack down on and suppress the paramilitaries that fought alongside them during the civil war. The accords stated that the government would "[s]uppress paramilitary entities (Civil Defense Patrols)."[19]
Most of the paramilitaries that existed in the country before and during the civil war have since ceased to exist but one notable exception, Sombra Negra, continues to operate in the country, targeting gang members of MS-13 and 18th Street Gang as a form of vigilante justice.[20]
Human rights violations
During the civil war, the paramilitaries, often labeled as death squads, came to public attention when on March 24, 1980, Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Romero was assassinated while giving Mass.[21] The Salvadoran government investigated but was unable to identify who assassinated Romero. The investigation did identify Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, a neo-fascist who commanded several death squads during the civil war,[22][23] as having ordered the assassination.[24][25]
Anti-Communist Brigade of the East (Brigada Anticomunista de Oriente; BACO)
Anti-Communist Front for the Liberation of Central America (Frente Anticomunista para la Liberación de Centroamérica; FALCA)[29]
Anti-Communist Political Front (Frente Político Anticomunista; FPAC)
Armed Forces of Anti-Communist Liberation – War of Elimination (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Anticomunista – Guerra de Eliminación; FALANGE)[12][30][31]
^Williams, Philip J. and Knut Walter (1997) Militarization and demilitarization in El Salvador's transition to democracy Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, pp. 80-81
^Herman, Edward S. and Frank Brodhead (1984) Demonstration elections: U.S.-staged elections in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, and El Salvador Boston: South End Press, p. 94
^ abPopkin, Margaret. Peace Without Justice (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000)
^Stanley, William. The Protection Racket State Elite Politics, Military Extortion, and Civil War in El Salvador (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996)
^Pastor, Robert (1984). "Continuity and Change in U.S. Foreign Policy: Carter and Reagan on El Salvador". Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 3 (2). Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management: 170–190. doi:10.2307/3323931. JSTOR3323931.
^Arnson, Cynthia J. "Window on the Past: A Declassified History of Death Squads in El Salvador" in Death Squads in Global Perspective: Murder with Deniability, Campbell and Brenner, eds, 88
^ abFisher, Stewart W. (1982). "Human Rights in El Salvador and U. S. Foreign Policy". Human Rights Quarterly. 4 (1). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 1–38. doi:10.2307/761988. JSTOR761988.