A TV show not to miss
Forwarded by the InterReligious Task Force on Central
America (IRTF).
[2-20-02]
-----------------------------
Tomorrow night (Thursday, Feb. 21) PBS will be showing
"Justice and the Generals," a 90-minute documentary that
explores military impunity for gross human rights abuses in El Salvador.
The program focus is a new lawsuit against two Salvadoran generals - now
living in Florida - for murder, rape, torture, and disappearances. The
plaintiffs include four Salvadoran torture survivors and the families of
the four U.S. church women raped and murdered in El Salvador in December
1980.
stations throughout the country (with the exception of
Florida) will be showing it if they choose to do so. Check local
schedules on the PBS web page at www.pbs.org
(see A-Z on the web page * top line *, then check Justice and the
Generals, then check broadcast schedule *lower right corner*).
Justice and the Generals was recently previewed by
Salvadoran refugees and other members of the Latin America solidarity
community in the US; they have urged that it be seen as widely as
possible.
PBS Description of Justice and the Generals:
"In late 1980, the bodies of four American women
were exhumed from a crude grave in war-torn El Salvador. The women --
three Catholic nuns and a lay missionary -- had been abducted, raped,
and murdered. An investigation led to the trial and imprisonment of five
Salvadoran National Guardsmen convicted of committing the crime. But who
was behind the murders? The families of the victims believed the orders
to kill came from high up in the military, but after 20 years of
pressuring the State Department for information, they still had no
direct evidence of higher orders. They did, however, have enough
circumstantial evidence to take two Salvadoran generals to trial. In a
second case, a group of Salvadoran torture survivors are set to bring
the same two generals to court as well. In an unusual legal move, both
cases are being decided not in international war tribunals, but in
American civil court. These historic cases -- which not only herald a
radical change in the way human rights violations are redressed but also
provide disturbing insight into the political forces that can shield the
military from any legal responsibility -- are the subject of JUSTICE
& THE GENERALS.
In exploring these two historic cases, JUSTICE &
THE GENERALS offers unique insight into a new chapter in international
human rights law, an important step forward in the campaign to bring
military commanders to justice for crimes committed within their ranks.
At the same time, as it follows efforts to hold human rights abusers
accountable, JUSTICE & THE GENERALS also maps the confusion,
barbarism, and, ultimately, the tragic heart of a conflict whose wounds,
two decades later, are far from healed.
JUSTICE & THE GENERALS is a production of Gail
Pellett Productions, Inc. in association with Thirteen/WNET New York.
Gail Pellett is producer, director, and narrator. Alison Amron is editor
and Sidney Beaumont is associate producer. For Thirteen, Stephen
Segaller is executive producer and Miriam Reinharth is supervising
producer. Major funding for JUSTICE & THE GENERALS was provided by
The Florence and John Schumann Foundation. Additional funding was
provided by The Jacob Burns Foundation and The Soros Documentary Fund.
"
