Bukele first arrived as president at the Mozote headquarters on December 17, 2020, where he gave a speech of confrontation and attacks on human rights defenders, among these Morales. This is what he said in an interview with EFE.
The President of the Savior, Here’s to see, Has taken a very traditional governmental position, similar to that of previous governments, to obstruct investigations into crimes against humanity committed in the civil war (1980-1992), to encourage and cover up those responsible for these events, he said. to Efe the ex-attorney David Morales.
Morales, who headed the Office of the Attorney General for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH) (2013-2016), considered that Bukele “is empowering military power,” which means a setback in human rights matters.
The ex-prosecutor has regretted that, for example, in the criminal case of the Mozote massacre (1981), perpetrated by the Army, the president, also commander of the Armed Forces, obstructs legal proceedings such as the delivery of files related to this slaughter.
He also reads, “The victims (of Mozote) deserve much more from his government,” says the US congressman. UU.
To cover up and protect war criminals
For Morales, it is obvious that after the armed conflict all the high commanders (commanders) of the Armed Forces of El Salvador “have had a clear political position to cover up the serious human rights violations that members and senior officials planned, supervised , they pushed, they tolerated and they covered up “.
However, the Bukele Executive had the opportunity to offer a generational handover and to “change this situation,” but instead has taken this position in favor of war criminals.
“This government had the opportunity to be the first government to offer a generational handover, because both the president and the defense minister (Rene Merino Monroy) were no longer direct actors in the war. However, they have taken this position, there is no legal justification for this, on the contrary they are violating international and national law, “he noted.
The ex-prosecutor pointed out that “the institutional reality in El Salvador is that of a civilian power that did not end up being over military power. In other words, a military power that continues to weigh heavily and that even at this time is being empowered by President Bukele. “
He lamented that the Legislative Assembly and the Prosecutor’s Office, which he categorized as a passive entity in the investigation of war crimes, also join in with impunity and deny victims justice, reparation and truth.
“There is still an attitude of tolerance for war criminals from the Prosecutor’s Office, in institutional terms, although a small team is trying to make an effort without much support within the Prosecutor’s Office (…) this is the State of the continent’s most ferocious (American) impunity, ”he argued.
An electoral political event in Mozote
Bukele first arrived as president at the Mozote cemetery on December 17, 2020, and his agenda did not include a visit to the victims’ monument, located in the massacre area, but a speech by confrontation and attacks on human rights defenders, among these Morales.
Also: “The war was a farce. Like the Peace Accords.” Bukele visits the Mozote, the village he denies the massacre
On that day, Bukele accused the opposition Front Farabundo Martí for National Liberation (FMLN), Human Rights Attorney José Apol·loni Tobar, and Morales of using the massacre for economic and political gain.
“It was a Presidential activity, I think, unfortunate. It had no characteristics of an act of reparative state for the victims, on the contrary, it was an act that constituted an offense, a revictimizing act for different reasons “said the ex-attorney general.
The lawyer also pointed out that the massacre affected many communities (at least five), and the populations, victims and relatives are not only in the area, but in other parts of the country, so the act is not so he was only representative of all the victims in the case, “he said.
Bukele during his visit to the Mozote burial ground, where he gave a confrontational speech and called the Peace Accords a “farce.”
Morales regretted that Bukele was engaged in personal attacks against human rights defenders, against the institutionalization of the PDDH, “I think that with this he follows a trend, a narrative that has characterized him by assaults on journalists and defenders who somehow they have denounced or revealed abuses of power on their part or on the part of Government, ”he noted.
Attack the Peace Accords
On that day, Bukele also noted that the Peace Accords, which ended twelve years of war, are a “farce” just like internal armed conflict.
“It is also unfortunate that it has fallen, as happened in governments of the 90s and 2000s, in the denial of history, this time expressing that the war itself and the Peace Accords were a farce, this is also a false speech that it is important to demystify in its content, “Morales said.
The ex-prosecutor noted that “the Peace Accords gave a historic course, a profound change, at least, to the institutionalization of the state and stopped a twelve-year war, all change from that moment and although we have an imperfect society the agreements have such a historical dimension that they are about any president “.
“The Peace Accords have a historical dimension above any individual official and it is impossible for a single president to even offend that of the Peace Accords,” he said.
He stated that “what really tainted President Bukele in his speech was the history of the communities that had received him, these communities that suffered in their own flesh many massacres, enforced disappearances, extralegal executions, bombings, suffered the war , had exiles and lived as refugees in the Honduran border area “.
For Morales “it is now very clear that it is a very traditional government position, similar to that of previous governments to hinder investigations, now going back even further in aggravating victims, in distorting dialogue with the community for the reparations, protect war criminals and attack victims’ representatives “.