WOLA, Revista Factum, and El Faro are pleased to invite you to the following event:
Journalists Expose Illegal Killings by Police in El Salvador
Featuring:
José Luis Sanz,
Director of Salvadoran News Outlet, El Faro
Héctor Silva,
Investigative Journalist, Co-director at Salvadoran News Outlet, Revista Factum
Senior Researcher at InSight Crime
Fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS)
With Comments By:
Dr. Margaret Daly Hayes,
Principal at Evidence Based Research (EBR) Associates
Moderated By:
Program Director, WOLA
Tuesday, September 19, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
2456 Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave SW,
Washington, DC 20515
RSVP on the form to the right.
For more information, please contact Adeline Hite at ahite@wola.org or (202) 797-2171.
On August 22, Salvadoran news outlet Revista Factum published the results of a three-month investigation revealing how an elite group of police officers allegedly worked together to commit sexual assaults, extort, and execute suspected gang members. Human rights groups have increasingly raised concerns about abuses and extrajudicial executions at the hands of members of the security forces in El Salvador, which ranks among the most violent countries in the world. Death threats forced reporters who worked on the investigation to temporarily leave the country, while the police named in the story remain on duty. This is a troubling development raising serious concerns about the current state of press freedom in El Salvador, as well as the urgent need for police reform. Join us to cover this and other topics related to violence and policing in El Salvador, and the role of the international community.
José Luis Sanz is the director of a leading news outlet in El Salvador, El Faro, and has written extensively about violence, gangs, and prison systems in Central America. He has edited for many major newspapers in the region such as El Diario de Hoy and La Prensa Grafica, and was awarded the Latin American Investigative Journalism Award in 2013.
Héctor Silva is an investigative journalist,and the co-director at Revista Factum, and is an expert on organized crime and international politics. He is a former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Salvadoran Embassy in Washington. Silva is currently a fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS) here in D.C. where he continues to research the Salvadoran justice system. He also works as a project manager for Insight Crime.
Dr. Margaret Daly Hayes is the Principal of EBR associates, a defense research consulting firm here in Washington. Dr. Hayes has authored numerous publications on U.S.-Latin American political economy and security issues and has worked with institutions such as USAID, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and George Mason University, and most recently the Organization of American States.