Freedom of expression, human rights violations and democratization in postwar El Salvador

The empirical evidence from the transition to democracy in postwar El Salvador supports the hypothesis that fundamental human rights are likely to be better protected when citizens and civil society institutions can and do exercise their right to freedom of expression in support of human rights. Human rights advocates have used public expression to create pressure for the Salvadoran government to uphold key human rights provisions of the 1992 peace accords. These provisions include the removal of human rights abusers from the military, the creation of a truth commission, and the demilitarization of public security. Salvadorans have also used freedom of expression to contribute to punishing state actors responsible for the murders of opposition leader Francisco Velis and medical student Adriano Vilanova. Human rights advocates have been less successful in other areas, however, including their opposition to amnesty laws for wartime human rights violators and vigilante death squads. This is explained by evidence that Salvadorans have continued to face serious obstacles to freedom of expression, including impunity for those forces seeking to silence them, as well as self censorship and bias within the concentrated media industry.