International observers have expressed surprise that a jury convicted only two of nine members of the Salvadoran military tried for the slayings of six Jesuit priests along with their housekeeper and her teenage daughter.
"I'm shocked," a Western diplomat who has closely followed the case said Sunday. "I just cannot believe it."Col. Guillermo Alfredo Benavides, 46, was found guilty on all eight counts of murder, and his subordinate, Lt. Yusshy Rene Mendoza, 27, was convicted on one count, for the death of 15-year-old Celina Ramos.
The jury, however, absolved seven members of a U.S.-trained commando unit sent by Benavides to actually carry out the killings in a decision handed down late Saturday.
Before the trial, prosecuting attorneys admitted that the case against Benavides was the weakest of the nine.
According to the prosecution, the men found not guilty were part of a commando unit sent by Benavides to kill the Jesuits on Nov. 16, 1989, in the midst of a massive rebel offensive on the Salvadoran capital.
The two officers convicted of the killings each face a maximum of 30 years in prison when they appear for sentencing, which can take as long as a month.
The Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition his name not be used, said he was surprised the triggermen were let off because in El Salvador it is usually low-ranking soldiers who sometimes are punished for political killings.
Benavides is the first high-ranking military officer ever convicted of a human rights crime.