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News Archive |
LAST UPDATE
June 2, 2007
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| February 28, 2007 |
Peace Boat supports a Human Rights Organization “Pro-Busqueda” from El Salvador |
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| President of Pro-Busqueda Mario Sanchez, Francisca Quinteros, Sol Yanez, Alix Moulin, Laure Norest |
Between January 31st and February 19th, 2007, the human rights organization Pro-Busqueda from El Salvador was able to visit France on a mission to locate and meet with young Salvadorians who were adopted and raised in Europe, and to appeal to NGO’s including Amnesty International in Spain, Holland, Germany and the UK, and meet with members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, about this issue. The trip was made possible through support by Peace Boat and Salvadorian partner travel agency Travel Time, by organizing two return tickets from El Salvador to France, and supporting travel costs during the trip. |
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| Francisca showing pictures of her family to Sol Yanez and Mrs. Moulin |
Specifically, the purpose of the European tour was:
To meet with young Salvadorians who were adopted and raised in Europe during El Salvador’s civil war between 1980 and 1992;
To raise awareness about the impunity still present in El Salvador regarding the disappearance of children during the armed conflict;
To request that the European Union, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations pressure the Salvadorian Government to recognize its responsibility regarding the disappearance of children during the armed conflict.
Reunion Between A Mother and Daughter, a First in Europe
After DNA tests confirmed the relationship, Pro-Busqueda president Mario Sanchez organized a reunion between Esperanza Guadalupe Quinteros, raised in France as Alix Moulin, now 24, and her mother, Ana Francisca Quinteros. Having been adopted at the age of six months, Alix does not remember her mother. Her French family had been told that her parents had died in the armed conflict. |
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| Mother teaching her daughter the national dish of El Salvador, Pupusas |
During their meeting, psychological support was provided to the Ana Francis, Alix and the adoptive mother by Sol Yanez, a psycho-therapist and specialist on post-conflict trauma. Peace Boat member Laure Norest, from France, provided translation between French and Spanish. The group spent three days together so that mother and daughter could get to know each other. |
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| Meeting at the European Parliament, Strasbourg, France |
Meeting at the EU parliament, Strasbourg (France).
On February 15th, members of Pro-Busqueda and Peace Boat member Laure Norest met with two members of the EU parliament, Mr. John Bowis OBE (UK) and Mrs. Ines Ayala Sender (Spain). The purpose of this meeting was to demand the EU parliament to send a position paper that demands the Salvadorian government to:
Declare the 29th of March an International Day of Disappeared of Children;
Ratify the inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of persons, declared by the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1999;
Ratify the UN Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons (2006);
To vote by legislative decree the co-creation of a new National Commission for Search, that would integrate the issue of disappearing children or to redefine the parameters of the initial commission, which did not include the issue of disappearance of children in the first place. |
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Meeting with Young people from Belgian and France in Paris (France).
On February 17 and 18th, Pro-Busqueda and Peace Boat members met with young people, all in their twenties, who had been adopted from El Salvador during the 1980's. The outcome of this meeting was very successful, and the young people decided to create an association of adopted children from El Salvador in Europe aiming to ask their governments to commit themselves for justice and pressure the Salvadorian government to work for truth, justice and reconciliation.
Why Did These Children Disappear?
During the armed conflict in El Salvador that lasted from 1980 to 1992, hundreds of children were killed or forcefully taken by soldiers following army-backed massacres or "cleaning operations" against the civilian population thought to support the guerrilla movement. Many young children have been put up for, or sold into, adoption. Thanks to DNA tests, many have been found in the US and Europe (mostly France).
What is Pro-Busqueda?
Pro-Busqueda was founded by Father John de Cortina, a Basque national, and by parents of disappeared children in August 1994, in response to a lack of action on this issue by a Truth Commission that was established in the Peace Agreement of 1992, and after the Salvadorian Government refused to divulge information about disappeared children or reform the judicial system. Since August of 1994, Pro-Busqueda has been gathering testimonies and complaints regarding children who disappeared between 1980 and 1991.
Since 1994, Pro-Busqueda has received 787 complaints, of which 323 cases have been resolved and 182 family reunions have taken place. Another 95 young people have been located and identified thanks to DNA tests carried out by the University of California at Berkley. 464 cases are still under investigation.
For more info about DNA tests, please see: www.dna-view.com/ProBusqueda.htm
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In 2004, the Government of Salvador was found guilty for the first time by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Corte Inter-Americana de Derechos Humanos) based in Costa Rica, in the case of the two sisters Serrano Cruz. The Court ordered: 1) The co-creation of a new National Commission for Search (Comision Nacional de Busqueda), first proposed by Pro-Busqueda to the Legislative Assembly in the year 1999 that would integrate the issue of disappeared children and to re-define the parameters of the initial commission. 2) The vote of a law that would seek compensation to the families. The purpose of this new commission and the law for compensation would be to engage representatives of civil society and human rights activists and to obtain truth, justice and compensation (many files are still kept secret but some former military and civilians involved in children trafficking during the war have started to give testimonies).
For more information about this issue, please see the following websites:
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: www.corteidh.or.cr
Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org/pages/slv-201103-action-eng
Report compiled by Laure Norest, Peace Boat
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