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Case Against former Salvadoran Military Officers for the 1982 murder of four Dutch reporters in El Salvador

YEAR

2025

COURT

Santa Tecla Criminal Court, El Salvador

STATUS

Ongoing

CASE UPDATE

Trial scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 23, 2025 at the Judicial Center in Chalatenango, El Salvador

Case Summary

On 17 March 1982, during the height of El Salvador’s brutal civil war, four Dutch reporters — Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Hans ter Laag, and Joop Willemsen — were killed in an ambush by the Salvadoran army in the department of Chalatenango. The reporters were working for the Dutch public broadcaster IKON (Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland) and were reporting on the impact of the war on the lives of Salvadoran civilians. Salvadoran security forces considered IKON’s independent journalistic work a threat for its critical journalism.

For decades, the families of the reporters were denied justice due to a blanket amnesty law adopted in El Salvador in 1993. This law was declared unconstitutional in 2016, reopening the path to legal accountability.

According to Fundación Comunicándonos and ASDEHU, which represent the families of the four Dutch reporters, this trial is “the most significant step in the search for truth and justice for the victims and their families, as well as for the Salvadoran people and the people of the Netherlands.” This is because it will be the first case included in the United Nations Truth Commission Report to reach the trial stage, and because it will bring to trial former senior military officers of the Armed Forces. An eventual conviction would also contribute to healing for the victims’ families and send a crucial signal that human rights violations will no longer go unpunished in El Salvador.

In this case, The Nuhanovic Foundation, together with its partner REDRESS, is working to provide support to some of the victims’ families during the public trial phase in El Salvador, facilitating the families’ access to the proceedings and liaising with their lawyer, and working with the Dutch War Crimes Unit, which initially led the investigation into the murder.In collaboration with Fundación Comunicándonos and ASDEHU, we are also looking to increase visibility and amplify awareness of the case, domestically and internationally.

The trial of the accused (General García, Colonel Morán, and Colonel Reyes Mena) is scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 23, 2025, at the Judicial Center in Chalatenango, El Salvador.

To know more about this case, read the information provided below or view our detailed FAQs about the case in English and Spanish.

 

The accused in this case are top former Salvadoran military officers, namely the former commander of the Fourth Infantry Brigade of El Paraíso, Colonel Mario Reyes Mena (hereafter: Colonel Reyes Mena), former Minister of Defense and Strongman of the Salvadoran Army in the early 1980s, General José Guillermo García (hereafter: General García), and former head of the repealed Treasury Police (Policía de Hacienda), Francisco Antonio Morán (hereafter: Colonel Morán). 

The arrest warrants for the accused were issued on October 13, 2022, by the Judge of the court in Dulce Nombre de María, Chalatenango, El Salvador, after the judge found sufficient grounds to prosecute the accused for the murder of four Dutch reporters: Jan Kuiper (editor), Koos Koster (coordinating correspondent), Johannes “Joop” Willemsen (cameraman), and Hans ter Laag (soundman) on March 17, 1982, during the civil war in El Salvador. In addition to the three men mentioned above, the Court also ordered the arrest of former head of the General Staff, Colonel Rafael Flores Lima (hereafter: General Flores Lima), and Sergeant of the Atonal Battalion, Mario Canizales Espinoza (hereafter: Sergeant Canizales Espinoza). However, General Flores Lima and Sergeant Canizales Espinoza have passed away.

On March 11, 1982, the director of the Treasury Police, Colonel Francisco Antonio Morán, ordered Koos Koster to be taken to the Treasury Police headquarters for interrogation. His colleagues Jan Kuiper, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag accompanied him. The journalists were working for the Dutch public broadcaster IKON (Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland) and were reporting on the impact of the war on the lives of Salvadoran civilians. Upon returning to the hotel where they were staying, they discovered that their rooms and work materials had been searched by law enforcement. Salvadoran security forces considered IKON’s independent journalistic work a threat for its critical journalism. The reporters continued their work on the production of a documentary that sought to portray the lives of Salvadoran families in urban and rural areas. On March 17, 1982, in Santa Rita, Chalatenango, the reporters were ambushed and killed by a patrol from the Atonal Battalion of the Salvadoran Armed Forces. Four guerrilla guides were also killed at the same ambush site. Only one guide survived; he gave his testimony to the Dutch authorities.

The judge in the case, in a ruling, ordered the defendants to be held in pretrial detention for the crime of murder, as defined in the Salvadoran Penal Code of 1973/74. This law is no longer in force, but it remains applicable in this case.

You can follow Fundación Comunicándonos’ social media and website to stay up-to-date on the latest developments related to the criminal case in El Salvador.

You can also visit this page, where we will be monitoring the trial and posting regular updates about the case.