The World - News from July 11, 1986

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights criticized El Salvador’s armed forces, its courts and President Jose Napoleon Duarte for failing to prosecute major human rights abuses. The New York-based group said the courts have failed to prosecute 16 major cases of human rights abuses since 1980, blaming the armed forces in part for covering up or blocking some of the cases. It accused Duarte of failing to deliver on promises he made in his election campaign to investigate and prosecute major instances of human rights abuses and said authorities “lack the political will and power to discipline Salvadoran soldiers for the crimes they commit.”