wfn.org | Salvadorans Inaugurate Monument to Honor Hundreds Killed and

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Salvadorans Inaugurate Monument to Honor Hundreds Killed and
Disappeared during Civil War  
Lutheran Bishop Gomez: "A Testimony of Life That Should Never Be
Forgotten"

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA, 19 December 2003 (LWI) -
Salvadoran Lutheran Bishop Medardo E. Gomez Soto described a
monument built in honor of the dead and disappeared during civil
conflict in the country as "as a testimony of life that should
not be forgotten."

It should "make us commit ourselves to build a better future, so
that younger generations can live with this witness," Gomez, said
of the "Monument to Memory and Truth," inaugurated on December 6
in San Salvador by the city's mayor, Carlos Rivas Zamora and
representatives from several human rights organizations.

The Salvadoran Lutheran Synod (SLS), headed by Gomez, has been
involved in advocating that justice be done, and those
responsible for "the death squads" that carried out systematic
murder, torture and disappearance of suspected opponents to the
military government during the 1980s and early 1990s be held
accountable. "It is a monument of hope," affirmed the bishop. 

The 97-meter marble-plated concrete wall displays the names of
over 25,000 Salvadorans murdered and disappeared during the civil
war in the country. The SLS human rights department was among
several local and international non-governmental organizations,
international agencies, and individuals that financially
contributed toward the monument's construction. 

The hundreds of relatives and friends gathered at the monument
in the city's Cuscatlan Park, expressed gratitude for the gesture
to honor their loved ones. Many wept after finding their loved
ones' names engraved on the wall. "Now we have a place to mourn
at and bring flowers," said one of the many mothers who had
traveled long distances to San Salvador. "I have somewhat mixed
feelings of happiness and sadness. This monument has been built
with our blood too," she added.

The four-hour emotional inauguration brought together national
and international singers and groups, who also paid their tribute
to the victims of massacres, executions, torture and
disappearances. 

Some plates remained blank, but organizers believe, not for
long. It is expected that hundreds of Salvadorans will in the
near future provide the names of their relatives to be added onto
the list.

The construction of such a monument was recommended by a 1993
United Nations truth commission established under the 1992 peace
agreements between the military government and the opposition
National Liberation Front Farabundo Marti (FMLN), after more than
a decade of civil war. From the early 1970s, leftist guerrilla
groups fought El Salvador's military regime. The so-called
"death squads," - tolerated by the military, and responsible for
the systematic murder, torture and disappearance of suspected
government opponents during the 1980s and early 1990s - did not
spare members of the clergy either. In March 1980, Roman Catholic
Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero was murdered while celebrating
mass, and in 1989 six Jesuit priests were victims of an attack. 

Roman Catholics make up 92 percent of El Salvador's 6.2
million people, with Protestants representing eight percent. The
12,000-member SLS joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1986.
(506 words)

(By LWI correspondent Raul Gutierrez in El Salvador.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
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