RULING EXPECTED TODAY IN ROMERO KILLING
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9086936p-9986603c.html

By Vanessa Colón
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Friday, September 3, 2004, 6:02 AM)

A federal judge in Fresno is expected to rule today in the case of a
man accused of plotting the 1980 assassination of El Salvador's
archbishop.

If Judge Oliver W. Wanger agrees with the plaintiff in the civil
case that Alvaro Rafael Saravia is directly responsible for the
murder, his ruling could lead to Saravia's deportation.

Saravia's whereabouts are unknown, and the ruling won't have much
bearing until he's found. But its precedent could ignite a movement
to expel more war criminals and human-rights abusers living in the
United States and discourage them from seeking a haven here.

Saravia, the right-hand man of the death-squad leader who ordered
Oscar Romero's murder, apparently lived in Modesto, which is part of
the federal court district based in Fresno.

The trial was held four days last week and continues today with
additional testimony before the expected ruling. Saravia has not
attended and has had no defense team present. Romero was fatally
shot March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in a church in San
Salvador, El Salvador's capital. He was renowned in El Salvador for
speaking against human-rights abuses. His murder sparked
international attention, and he soon became an icon on the scale of
Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas K. Gandhi. Romero's death
remains unsolved.

"Just like the Nazi war criminals, they [human-rights abusers]
should not be given safe haven," said Joe Vail, a former immigration
judge for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1995 to 1999.

Vail, an associate professor at the University of Houston's Law
School, visited El Salvador and handled dozens of cases involving
Salvadorans seeking asylum in the United States. Even if Saravia has
U.S. citizenship, he's deportable because it can be revoked if he
lied during the application process.

Applicants are asked whether they have committed any crimes, such as
murder, he said.

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement
under the Department of Homeland Security, declined to state
Saravia's immigration status and whether he committed fraud in his
application.

A staff member from the department's San Francisco office was in the
courtroom throughout the trial taking notes.

"We are observing. We continue to have interest in this case,"
Knocke said.

If the judge finds Saravia responsible, attorneys for the plaintiff
will use the ruling to ask the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
to seek his deportation.

El Salvador's civil war, which began in 1980, claimed as many as
75,000 civilian lives, according to the United Nations Commission on
the Truth for El Salvador. The military ruled the country, and death
squads included members of the U.S.-backed military. The war ended
in 1992 with a peace accord that the United States helped negotiate.

Death-squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson -- who allegedly ordered
Romero killed -- died of cancer in 1992. The ARENA political party
that he founded rules El Salvador today, according to court
testimony.

The Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco filed the
civil lawsuit against Saravia on behalf of an unidentified relative
of Romero's. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages as well as the
eventual arrest and deportation of Saravia.

"We do hope the evidence and the judge's ruling will make a strong
case for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement so they can arrest
him for immigration violations," said Sandra Coliver, the center's
executive director.

The center won a similar civil suit in 2002, when a jury in a
Florida court found two Salvadoran generals responsible for the
torture of one plaintiff and one of the generals responsible for the
torture of another plaintiff. The court ordered Jose Guillermo
Garcia and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova to pay the victims $54.6
million in damages. The two generals have appealed the case.

But the cases are different. The generals were found guilty because
they had "command responsibility" of the torture, though they did
not participate.

"In Saravia's case, we are alleging he directly ordered [Romero's
death]. ... There's direct evidence he ordered and assisted,"
Coliver said.

Saravia ordered Amado Garay -- Saravia's driver -- to be the bearded
sniper's driver that day, Garay said in court. Excerpts of Saravia's
diary, read in court, list a plan calling for a driver, a gun with a
telescopic lens and thousands of dollars. D'Aubuisson ordered and
planned the murder, according to court testimony.

Terry Lynn Karl, a Stanford professor who did extensive research on
El Salvador's civil war, testified that Saravia was a captain in the
military under D'Aubuisson.

Legal experts say that if Saravia is found responsible, it will send
a message for human-rights abusers across the globe.

"People who committed atrocities abroad can't find a safe haven
[here]. It's a warning signal to them," said Marshall Fitz,
associate director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers
Association in Washington, D.C.

Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum
advocate group in Washington, D.C., said the case is high-profile
and could impact other cases.

"This lawsuit and its outcome will open recently closed wounds. ...
In their [Salvadorans'] hearts, it would do them a world of good,"
Kelley said.

The reporter can be reached at vcolón@... or (559) 441-
6313.

See also:
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/9086979p-9986651c.html

===

JUDGE TO RULE TODAY ON ASSASSINATION OF SALVADORAN ARCHBISHOP
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/9574979.htm

Monterey County Herald - Posted on Fri, Sep. 03, 2004

(Associated Press) FRESNO, Calif. - Vivid memories of the 1980
assassination of a Salvadoran archbishop and his role in promoting
human rights in Latin America were recalled in a Fresno courtroom in
a weeklong hearing expected to culminate in a Friday ruling, in
which a federal judge will determine the defendant's liability.

The civil suit was brought on behalf of one of Archbishop Oscar
Romero's relatives under a little-known 18th century law. It asks
the court to determine if the evidence presented was enough to show
that retired Salvadoran air force captain Alvaro Rafael Saravia,
last known to be living in Modesto, Calif., could be held liable for
Romero's death.

Judge Oliver Wanger is expected to rule late Friday, determining
whether Saravia should be held liable in the case, and if so,
ordering him to pay damages to reflect the loss suffered by Romero's
family, by the country, and by the international community.

A United Nations truth commission linked Saravia and others to
Romero's death. Immediately after the commission's findings were
made public, an amnesty law was passed in 1993. No one has been held
responsible for the death, or for the crimes committed against
thousands of others during El Salvador's 12-year civil war.

See also:
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=2256933
http://www.mercedsun-star.com/state_wire/story/9087498p-9987239c.html