Documentary reveals atrocities in El Salvador

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Documentary reveals atrocities in El Salvador

By Teresia Mutuku, Communication Officer and Web Manager, WACC

		Twenty-eight years ago, two women were raped, tortured and brutally murdered by soldiers of the then government of El Salvador. One man watched as the two women were shot dead. He secretly buried them in a field near where other innocent Salvadoreans were murdered and buried. He recalls killing 48 others.
Oscar Orellana, Documentary Director (Photo by Teresia Mutuku, WACC)

This is the story of a documentary currently being filmed and directed by Oscar Orellana co-director of the award winning documentary Monseñor Romero: Un ministerio de Dios, about the life and murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980.

The two women were murdered for belonging to a community participating in civil protests against injustices related to land ownership and other atrocities carried out by military and paramilitary forces. Their families are now asking for the truth to be investigated and for the government to take responsibility for the murder of their daughters. They want their daughters to be exhumed and re-buried with dignity.

WACC is funding this project under its Communication for Peace programme. The documentary is aimed at raising public awareness about the ongoing need to come to terms with the civil war of 1980-92 and its consequences for the country. Some 180,000 people died, thousands of whom were tortured and ‘disappeared’.

While addressing WACC staff at their Toronto office, December 5, Orellana, the documentary’s director, expressed the hope that it will provoke a government response to the silence surrounding the thousands of families who lost loved ones. He hopes that the two women will be exhumed and their remains given back to their families. ‘It will be a starting point for others to be exhumed and for the truth that has been buried for over 20 years to be revealed.’

The documentary will be broadcasted by the audiovisual department of the Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador and the producers are seeking cable channel outlets in the country. Orellana hopes the documentary will also be transmitted widely in other Latin American countries that have experienced similar atrocities.

A recent BBC report rated El Salvador as the most violent country in Latin America. Orellana affirms that a culture of violence reigns. “Violence is a present reality in El Salvador, one of the consequences of the unresolved atrocities of the 1980’s.

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WACC promotes communication for social change. It believes that communication is a basic human right that defines people's common humanity, strengthens cultures, enables participation, creates community and challenges tyranny and oppression.

The World Association for Christian Communication is a UK Registered Charity (number 296073) and a Company registered in England and Wales (number 2082273) with its Registered Office at 71 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 6DX. It is an incorporated Charitable Organisation in Canada (number 83970 9524 RR0001) with its head office at 308 Main Street, Toronto ON, M4C 4X7.