9 Arrested in L.A. Protest of El Salvador Killings

About 100 demonstrators calling for the punishment of human rights violators in El Salvador briefly blocked the main entrance to the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday, resulting in the arrest of nine people.

“Those responsible for the killings in El Salvador must be brought to justice,” said Father Chris Ponnet, associate pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Claremont, who was among those arrested for blocking the entrance.

Federal authorities charged those arrested with disorderly conduct and obstructing entry to a public building and then released them, said government spokeswoman Mary Filippini. They face fines of up to $50 or 30-day jail terms.

Protesters called for a full airing of the U.S. sponsorship of the Salvadoran military--the institution responsible for most atrocities during the nation’s bloody civil war, according to a recent watershed report by the United Nations-appointed Commission on Truth. Salvadoran lawmakers have approved an amnesty for those implicated in abuses, a move that outraged human rights activists, who say it will embolden death squads.

After Wednesday’s arrests, a related group of protesters called on the Clinton Administration to extend protected status for tens of thousands of expatriate El Salvadorans who face deportation or a return to illegal status as of June 30. “We shouldn’t have to be forced to go back to a clandestine life,” said Elio Martinez.