Justice Served: El Salvador Convicts Ex-Officers for 1982 Murders of Dutch Journalists

On June 4, 2025, a jury in El Salvador convicted three former military officers for the 1982 murders of four Dutch journalists, sentencing them to 15 years in prison. The conviction marks a significant step in the long pursuit of justice for the victims' families.

In a landmark decision on June 4, 2025, a jury in El Salvador convicted three former military officers for their roles in the 1982 murders of four Dutch television journalists during the Salvadoran civil war. The officers—Gen. José Guillermo García, 91; Col. Francisco Morán, 93; and Col. Mario Adalberto Reyes Mena, 85—each received a 15-year prison sentence following a swift 10-hour trial. The proceedings were overseen by the Comunicándonos Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to pursuing justice for the victims.

The conviction comes more than four decades after the journalists were killed while covering the conflict. At the time, García and Morán were apprehended after their arrest in 2022, while Reyes Mena is residing in Virginia and awaits extradition to El Salvador. The Dutch victims—Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag—were ambushed by soldiers from the Salvadoran army during their coverage of the civil war on March 17, 1982.

Initial reports from the Salvadoran army claimed the journalists fell victim to crossfire from guerrillas, but a United Nations Truth Commission found that the army had orchestrated the attack. Eyewitness accounts and physical evidence, like spent M16 shells found at the scene, contradicted the official army narrative, leading to widespread outrage in the Netherlands, where the journalists' deaths sparked significant public outcry.

Arjen van den Berg, the Dutch ambassador to Costa Rica and El Salvador, remarked on the public sentiment in the Netherlands during the time, highlighting the disbelief over the cold-blooded killing of journalists simply doing their work. Following the conviction, Dutch officials voiced their relief and gratitude, underscoring the ruling as an essential milestone in combating impunity and advocating for justice for the victims and their families. Caspar Veldkamp, the outgoing Dutch minister of foreign affairs, made a public statement celebrating the verdict as vital in the ongoing pursuit of justice.