José Guillermo García
José Guillermo Garcia | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1933 (age 90–91) |
| Nationality | Salvadoran |
| Education | School of the Americas |
| Employer | Military of El Salvador |
| Known for | human rights violations |
| Title | General |
José Guillermo García (born 1933) is a former general of the military of El Salvador and was minister of defense in the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador between the years 1979 and 1983.[1] He emigrated to the United States in 1989. He was sued, along with Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, in the United States district court in West Palm Beach[2] in two precedent-setting legal actions:
- Ford v. Garcia, a lawsuit by the families of four Catholic churchwomen, including two Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, who were murdered by a Salvadoran military death squad on December 2, 1980. Garcia's defense won the case, and the families appealed. Their appeal was denied, and in 2003, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear further proceedings.
- Ramagoza v. Garcia, a lawsuit filed by the Center for Justice and Accountability on behalf survivors of torture during the Salvadoran Civil War. Garcia lost, and a judgment of over $54 million (U.S.) was entered against him and his co-defendant, and upheld on appeal.[3][4]
General Garcia and General Vides Casanova had been undergoing a deportation process since 1999.[5] The Department of Homeland Security later charged Garcia in 2009 with participating or assisting in torture and extrajudicial killings during his tenure as Minister of Defense.[5] His attorney Alina Cruz argued that he could not be deported on those grounds because he was already exonerated of those charges in the landmark case Ford vs. Garcia when a jury found that he was not in control of his troops. It was determined in 1998 that Garcia's co-defendant General Vides Casanova and Casanova's cousin Col. Oscar Edgardo Casanova Vejar, the local military commander in Zacatecoluca, had planned and orchestrated the executions of the four Maryknoll churchwomen.[6] On April 12, 2014, an immigration court judge ruled against Garcia and called for his deportation.[7] On December 16, 2015, it was announced that an immigration appeals court upheld the decision to deport Garcia.[8] Garcia's attorney afterwards said they both plan to appeal the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia.[1] On January 8, 2016, American immigration officials deported General Garcia back to El Salvador.[9][10]
References
- ^ a b http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article50792495.html
- ^ Washington Post August 17, 2003 The Case Against the Generals[1]
- ^ Gonzales, David. "Torture Victims in El Salvador Are Awarded $54 Million New York Times" (24 July 2002).
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)[2] - ^ "El Salvador Generals Guilty of Torture". BBC News. 2002-07-23. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ a b http://www.cja.org/section.php?id=579
- ^ Larry Rother (April 3, 1998). "4 Salvadorans Say They Killed U.S. Nuns on Orders of Military". New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/us/salvadoran-general-accused-in-killings-should-be-deported-miami-judge-says.html?gwh=F3049AFAAB6443E5530792B41115D4EA&gwt=pay
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/us/deportation-of-former-salvadoran-official-is-upheld.html
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/us/florida-ex-leader-of-salvadoran-military-deported.html
- ^ http://www.cja.org/article.php?id=1666
See also
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
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