IACHR takes to Inter-American Court case concerning extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in El Salvador

December 18, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed on October 6, 2025, an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case 12,787—Natividad de Jesús Ramírez and Family, with regard to El Salvador. This case concerns the extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances of several members of the Ramírez family, perpetrated by officers of the State in 1982, and the subsequent impunity surrounding those events.

During the internal armed conflict in El Salvador (1980–1991), the Ramírez family—active in the Catholic Church and considered critical of the government by the State—was subjected to raids, threats, arrests, and assault by officers of the State. The petition—submitted to the IACHR in 2004—mentioned the extrajudicial killings of Rufino and Teresa Ramírez and the forced disappearances of Natividad de Jesús Ramírez, Guadalupe Robles, José Elías Ramírez Cuchilla, Jorge Ramírez Cuchilla, and Salvador Ramírez, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

In Merits Report 150/23, the IACHR found that the use of lethal force by officers of the State against Rufino and Teresa de Jesús Ramírez was unjustified and disproportionate and lacked a legitimate purpose. The IACHR found proof of the forced disappearances of Natividad de Jesús, Salvador, José Elías, Jorge Alberto, and Guadalupe, based on the fact that officers of the State had raided their homes, arrested them, and refused to disclose their whereabouts.

Concerning the investigation, the IACHR found serious omissions, including the failure to preserve the crime scene, perform autopsies, conduct effective searches, and launch investigations in a timely manner. Investigations were eventually launched up to 20 years after the fact and have delivered no verifiable results. The State failed to provide information about any measures adopted or about the reasons why the case had been closed, or evidence of an analysis with a gender perspective concerning the extrajudicial killing of Teresa de Jesús Ramírez.

Finally, the IACHR found that these extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances and the lack of access to truth and justice had caused profound suffering and other psychological and moral harm to the victims’ relatives, some of whom directly witnessed these events.

The IACHR concluded that the State of El Salvador was liable for violations of the rights to juridical personality, life, personal integrity, personal liberty, protection of the family, rights of the child, and judicial protection held in Articles 3, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 8.1, 17, 19, and 25.1 of the American Convention on Human Rights, concerning the obligations held in Article 1.1 of that instrument, with regard to all victims identified in the various sections of the Merits Report.

The IACHR therefore asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to demand that the State take the following redress measures:

1.       Provide comprehensive reparations—including financial compensation and other measures—for rights violations

2.       Investigate disappearances and establish the fate of the affected individuals; identify their remains and hand them over to the victims’ families; and come to an agreement with the families concerning a search plan

3.       Ensure any physical and mental healthcare required by the victims’ relatives, with a differentiated focus

4.       Pursue the criminal investigation diligently and effectively, to establish what happened and identify the people responsible for it, including as a line of inquiry the persecution of individuals linked to Catholic Church activities during the conflict and also adopting a gender perspective

5.       Take measures of non-recurrence, such as comprehensive reparation policies, regulation of the search for missing persons, creation of a DNA database, and accession to the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 276/25

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