honors and benefits.108 A new Supreme Court was elected in 1994, but the former president of the Supreme Court was appointed to the Inter-American Juridical Committee of the Organization of American States.
The commission also made recommendations regarding structural problems related to the violence. Of particular concern was the strengthening of civilian control of the military and the promotion of training in democracy and human rights among the armed forces. The commission also recommended that Article 173 of army regulations, which requires a subordinate to obey all orders (even illegal ones) from a superior, be repealed. Additionally, the commission urged the strengthening of the National Counsel for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH) by increasing the number of offices and its powers of inspection at detention sites. The rights of detainees, particularly with regard to extrajudicial confessions and the criminal code, were also addressed. The commission also called for the investigation of death squads, which threatened to undermine the peace process. A series of political assassinations of ARENA and FMLN leaders in 1993 led to the establishment of the Joint Group for the Investigation of Politically Motivated Illegal Armed Groups, in December 1993. In its report, published in July 1994, the joint group identified a connection between current activity and groups active during the war and stated that “political destabilization of the peace process appears . . . to be the direct objective. The perpetrators of the attacks proceed in security, showing signs of considerable organization and planning.”109 The report also highlighted the relationship between death squads and organized crime (see chapter 5).
Also of particular importance were the recommendations for judicial reforms that addressed the excessive powers and politicization of the courts. The commission recommended that judges be appointed by the independent National Council of the Judiciary agreed to in the peace accords instead of the Supreme Court of Justice, and that judges be responsible to the new council. The commission also recognized the need to strengthen the judicial system through improved training and resources. The commission’s assessment of the judiciary and of the slow pace of judicial reform was particularly pointed:
The structure of the judiciary is still substantially the same as it was when the acts described in this report took place. The reforms of the judicial system agreed on during the peace process have been implemented to only a limited extent, so that they have yet to have a significant impact which translates into a transformation of the administration of justice. What is more, the judiciary is still run by people whose omissions were part of the situation which must now be overcome, and there is nothing to indicate that their customary practices will change in the near future.110
Supreme Court President Mauricio Gutiérrez Castro, a member of ARENA with connections to ARENA deputies, was a major impediment to judicial reform. His steadfast defense of the separation of powers, particularly that the judiciary was not required to implement orders given by the executive branch, slowed the pace of judicial reform. Of course, he also had less “principled” reasons for stalling reform. Gutiérrez Castro had been named in the Truth Commission’s report for unprofessional behavior and his refusal to cooperate with the commission’s investigations.111 There was a clear unwillingness to accept technical assistance offered by international organizations to improve the functioning and independence of the judiciary. As noted by Popkin, “the institutional reluctance to accept foreign technical and professional assistance seemed to reflect a widespread resistance to changing the status quo.”112 The implementation of judicial reforms was greatly improved by the election of an entirely new Supreme Court of Justice in 1994. In 1996 the Legislative Assembly passed a new Criminal Procedures Code, and extrajudicial confessions were invalidated in 1997 by a constitutional amendment. It was progress, but many other pressing issues, particularly judicial incompetence and corruption, remained.
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