Letter

Letter to Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) on Killing of U.S. Pilots, January 7, 1991

Year Published
  • 2013
Language
  • English

January 7, 1991

The Negotiating Team of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front
c/o United Nations Office of the Americas
United Nations Plaza
United Nations, New York

To the Members of the FMLN Negotiating Team:

As chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops' Committee on International Policy, I write to express my profound revulsion over the reported execution in El Salvador of the two U.S. servicemen whose helicopter was downed by FMLN fire last week.

I am aware that all the information may not yet be in and that the FMLN leadership has now proposed both to investigate the incident and to abide by the principles of the Geneva Conventions. However, on the basis of all presently available evidence, it seems clear that a grave injustice has been committed.

The leadership of the FMLN should forthrightly acknowledge what took place and condemn it, and those responsible for these murders, regardless of rank or position, must be brought to justice.

Once again we renew our appeal that human rights be respected, that nothing be done to deter or delay the essential process leading to a negotiated settlement, and that all turn from the ways of war to the paths of peace, a goal so intensely desired by the Salvadoran people.

Sincerely,

Most Reverend John R. Roach
Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Chairman, USCC Committee on International Policy

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