UN Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, From Madness to Hope: The 12-Year War in El Salvador, Report, 15 March 1993, in UN Secretary General, Letter to the President of the Security Council (S/25500), Annex. (PDF link)
PREV:
IV. 1989-1991: FROM THE "FINAL OFFENSIVE" TO THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE AGREEMENTS
NEXT:
A. General overview of cases and patterns of violence
NOTES:
125/ In investigating and resolving the cases referred to below, Commission members examined documents in El Salvador and other countries; interviewed numerous participants, witnesses, victims and relatives; requested information from Government bodies; consulted court dossiers; visited places where incidents had occurred; and requested copies of instructions and orders given.
Requests for precise information on various cases were transmitted to Ministers and heads of Government departments, and to what is now the former FMLN Command.
In the case of requests for reports from the Ministry of Defence, the Commission received replies to some of its inquiries. However, many of the replies were incomplete.
With regard to requests for reports that were not met and that in some cases referred to events prior to 1984, the Ministry of Defence informed the Commission that "no records exist since the General Staff was completely restructured in that year" (letter No. 10692, 27 November 1992). The Armed Forces Press Committee (COPREFA) told the Commission that it did not have any information for the period from January 1980 onwards and currently had available only the archive of press releases from January 1988 onwards (letter of 29 October 1992).
The replies to requests made to FMLN were also, in some cases, incomplete. the former Command attributed the inability to provide precise information to the Commission to the irregular nature of the war and the consequent lack of records.