New developments with Spanish courts and Jesuits

(We share this note from Terry Karl, a professor at Stanford University...)
Dear Friends,
(and please excuse me for being unable to answer so many emails in the last months)
This is to update you on an historic development in the Jesuits Massacre Case, which I have been working on for many years as the expert witness. The murder of six Jesuit priests, their cook and her young daughter, which occurred in November 1989, was the catalyst ending U.S. aid as well as the civil war in that country. The priests were among the leading intellectuals in Central America and included the rector and vice rector of the region's leading university. Three of them had been offered visiting professorships at Stanford University shortly before their murders.
As you may have already read in the NYT or Washington Post (for those of in the US) or the BBC or Guardian (in Europe), nine of the twenty named defendants in the case - all former Salvadoran military officials -- made a decision to self-surrender to Salvadoran military authorities late Sunday night when faced with Interpol arrests. While the facts are still unfolding, I wanted to provide you with an update.
A Spanish Judge, Eloy Velasco, issued indictments against twenty of the defendants, all former members of the Salvadoran military charging them with crimes against humanity and state terrorism for their role in this massacre. The case is taking place in Spain because several of the priests were Spanish citizens and, after a sham trial, El Salvador's ARENA Party passed an amnesty law, which has been ruled illegal by the Inter-American Court and is not recognized outside El Salvador. The judge issued arrest warrants last month for 14 of the defendants, which Interpol began to send throughout their system.
This week, when it became clear that the Salvadoran National Police were going to honor the arrest warrants (an historic first), nine of the defendants met on Sunday night (August 7) at a country club outside of San Salvador to presumably discuss next steps.  Later that night, at approximately 10:00 p.m., all nine turned themselves into a military facility also outside of San Salvador.  The decision to self-surrender to the military was most likely an attempt to circumvent the usual civilian process involving international arrest warrants and extradition treaties and to seek the protection of the military.  In an unprecedented development, the Minister of Defense of El Salvador accepted the validity of the international arrest warrants and turned the defendants over to civilian authorities where they are all now being held in custody.
In addition to former Minister of Defense General Rafael Humberto Larios and former Air Force Chief General Rafael Bustillo (of Iran Contra fame), the following defendants also surrendered: Colonel Francisco Elena Fuentes, Vice Defense Minister Juan Orlando Zepeda, Mariano Amaya Grimaldi, José Ricardo Espinoza Guerra, Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos and Antonio Ramiro Ávalos Vargas y Tomás Zárpate Castillo. General Emilio Ponce, former defense minister and also a general who had also been named, died of a heart attack prior to the issue of these warrants.
The Spanish courts have 60 days to formalize the extradition requests.  The Salvadoran Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to honor the arrest warrants and extradite the men to Spain to be prosecuted for their role in these outrageous crimes. 
One of the main issues confronting the Salvadoran court is whether the amnesty law, which was passed in 1993 by the right-wing ARENA Party with no public consultation and against the wishes of U.N. peace negotiators, will continue to protect military officials for human rights abuses committed against the civilian population. The current leader of the ARENA Party, Former President Alfredo Cristiani, is thus far an un-indicted co-conspirator in the cover-up of the massacre.
While "self-amnesty" laws that protect military officials from human rights prosecutions are illegal under international law, how the court will rule is very difficult to predict.  The Supreme Court could decide against extradition but for lifting the amnesty law. It could also to extradict and do nothing.  Or it could approve the extradition. The ball is in the El Salvador Supreme Court. 
The Spanish High Court has also requested the extradition of two officers living in the U.S.  WE do not yet know how Interpol and the Department of Justice will respond to this request.
Regardless of what happens next, this is a stunning development in the now 21 year search for justice and the rule of law in El Salvador.
Terry Karl
Gildred Professor of Political Science and Latin American Studies
Department of Political Science
Encina Hall
Stanford University