Jesuits in El Salvador asked the government Monday to commute a former military colonel's prison sentence for the 1989 killings of six priests from their order and two female employees.
In presenting their request to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Society of Jesus also reiterated that it forgives former Col. Guillermo Benavides, who has 26 years remaining on his 30-year sentence. [...]
Benavides and a lieutenant, both members of an elite, U.S.-trained battalion, were convicted in the killings but then freed under a 1993 amnesty decree covering crimes during the Central American nation's civil war. The Supreme Court declared the amnesty unconstitutional in 2016, and Benavides returned to prison despite appeals from his lawyers. [...]
Tojeira also said the Jesuits believe Benavides is a "scapegoat" for those who ordered the massacre and were never punished. The Jesuits consider the case against the killers closed but continue to seek clarity on the intellectual authors of the crime.
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