Spanish High Court Sentences Ex-Colonel for 1989 Jesuit Murders
After a long court battle, the Audiencia Nacional (Spain’s High Court) sentenced Inocente Orlando Montano to a total of 133 years in prison for the killing of five Spanish priests. Montano, who is now 77, faces prison approximately 31 years after committing the killings and was sentenced on September 11, 2020.
During the Salvadoran Civil War, Montano served as a general in the conservative government. He was involved in a plot that killed Father Ignacio Ellacuría, 59, Igancio Martín-Baró, 47, Segundo Montes, 56, Juan Ramón Moreno, 56, and Amando López, 53, who were all Spanish. Montano and his co-conspirators also assassinated Joaquin López y López, 71, Julia Elba Ramos, 42, and Celina Ramos, 15, who were all Salvadoran. The conspirators employed a U.S.-trained group of soldiers to commit the murders using a gun that belonged to the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in an effort to take down the anti-conservative guerrilla group. The murders occurred on the Central American University campus on November 16, 1989.
Montano fled to the U.S. in 2002, where he spent many years hiding in Boston. However, officers soon jailed him for immigration fraud and perjury. In 2011, a Spanish court judge charged him for the murders of the five Spanish citizens. In 2017, six years later, the U.S. extradited Montano to Spain to await sentencing.
The Audiencia Nacional stated in their ruling that the perpetrators committed the murder “when they perceived threats against their power and control in the military, political, social and economic spheres of the country.” Montano originally stated that he did not harbor negative feelings towards the victims. However, a witness for the prosecution later revealed that Montano and his team suspected the priests of working against the conservative government, which Montano supported.
The court gave Montano a sentence of 26 years, eight months, and one day for each of the five Spanish victims. Although the court acknowledged that Montano also murdered the other three victims, it only ruled for the five Spanish Jesuit priests. The court was able to convict Montano under universal jurisdiction, which allows international courts to prosecute criminals for human rights crimes committed in another country.
After the sentencing, many of the victims’ families stated they were pleased with the court's action. The brother of Igancio Martín-Baró agreed, but also stated, “It’s just the start of justice. The important thing here is that there should one day be justice and a trial in El Salvador.”
Almudena Bernabéu, a Spanish human rights lawyer who served as a member of the prosecution, agreed on the importance of continuing these efforts after the war. She was involved in building Montano’s case and working towards the extradition in 2017. When asked about the time it took for the sentencing to take place, Bernabéu said, “It doesn’t really matter if 30 years have passed, the pain of the relatives carries on. I think people forget how important these active efforts are to formalize and acknowledge that someone’s son was tortured or someone’s brother was executed.”
It is important to note that while Spain has made progress through this ruling, El Salvador refuses to take action regarding the crimes and violence from its civil war. This ruling is part of ongoing efforts for El Salvador to heal after the losses in its civil war. Many people in both El Salvador and Spain are looking to see what future steps both governments will take to reconcile with their violent histories.