Former Salvadoran general: I did not commit or order acts of torture, killings in civil war
Former Salvadoran general: I did not commit or order acts of torture, killings in civil war
By Christine Armario, The Associated Press February 26, 2013 7:04 PM
MIAMI - A former Central American general took the stand in his own defence at a deportation hearing on Tuesday, saying he did not commit or order any acts of torture or extrajudicial killings during El Salvador's brutal civil war.
Jose Guillermo Garcia did acknowledge that he knew members of the military were committing abuses against civilians.
"This was something that was public knowledge," Garcia said in Spanish through a translator. "That's something that can't be denied."
Garcia was appointed as El Salvador's defence minister in 1979, at the start of the country's civil war, and resigned three and a half years later. He has lived in Plantation, Fla., for the last 25 years, after claiming and receiving political asylum. The U.S. government is seeking his deportation under a 2004 law that aims to stop human rights abusers from taking refuge in the U.S.
More: http://www.canada.com/news/Former+Salvadoran+general+commit+order+acts+torture+killings+civil/8019933/story.html
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Jose Guillermo Garcia[/center]