A group of supporters gathered on a cold night at the northeast plaza at 24th and Mission streets on Nov. 15 in commemoration of the 24th anniversary of the slain scholars from la Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas” in San Salvador.
On Nov. 16, 1989, six Jesuit scholars and priests —Ignacio Martín-Baró, Juan Ramon Moreno, Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Joaquín López y López, Armando López— along with their housekeeper, Elba Ramos and her daughter, Celina Ramos, were murdered by an elite unit of the Salvadoran Army, known as the Atlacatl Battalion, that was trained at the School of the Americas in Georgia.
Those gathered at the Bart plaza wanted to create awareness and demand justice for the murders that have gone by with impunity.
Despite a trial in 1991 that would have sent two of the nine members accused of the crime to prison for 30 years, the suspects were set free in 1993 due to an amnesty law that was placed for the purpose of preventing “witch-hunts” after the Salvadoran civil war.
The abolishment of the amnesty law in El Salvador was one of the central points of discussion at the vigil.
The supporters held up signs with pictures of the eight victims, holding candles and passing out fliers to passersby.
Speakers rallied the crowd, such as Félix Kury, professor at San Francisco State University, who said: “We have a hope, that it can be possible, that our brothers and colleagues could have justice, and be able to recognize what happened in our country, we want them to pay for the crimes they committed.”
They displayed a brief video on a white backdrop, of interviews of those who knew the deceased along with photos.