10 shall extend to all persons who have participated as direct or indirect perpetrators or as accomplices in those criminal acts. The amnesty extends to the persons mentioned in article 6 of the National Reconciliation Act, contained in Legislative Decree 147 of January 23, 1992 and 26 published in the Official Gazette no. 14 volume 314 of that date. 48. On May 20, 1993 the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice declared itself incompetent to review the constitutionality of LAGCP, on the grounds that amnesty constituted “an 27 eminently political act”. 49. In December 1998, various human rights organizations presented a new challenge to the constitutionality of the LAGCP. On October 2, 2000 the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice declared that law constitutional, arguing that it admitted of an interpretation consistent with the Constitution. In summary, it held that the law was not unconstitutional per se, and that judges would have 28 to decide in each case whether application of the law was unconstitutional. B. The massacres 50. The village of El Mozote, the canton of La Joya, the villages of Ranchería, Los Toriles and Jocote Amarillo, and the canton of Cerro Pando, where the events of this case occurred, are located within the municipal jurisdiction of Meanguera, in the northern part of the Department of Morazán, El Salvador. 1. The Atlacatl Battalion operation 51. The Atlacatl Rapid Deployment Infantry Battalion conducted a large-scale military 29 offensive between December 8 and 16, 1981 in the northern part of the Department of Morazán . 30 “Operation Rescue” was intended to eliminate guerrillas from a small sector in that area . Various 31 statements by survivors indicate that the Atlacatl Battalion’s participation in the operation in which the events described below occurred was public knowledge. 52. The operation began when helicopters of the Salvadoran armed forces carried several hundred soldiers to the medical center in the village of Perquin, where they organized their military offensive. The soldiers were divided into five companies of some 125 men each, and each company was 32 under the immediate command of a captain . Reports from civil society organizations indicate the names of some of the officers in charge of the operation. The available information consistently points to 26 General Amnesty Law for Consolidation of the Peace, Legislative Decree No. 489 of March 20, 1993. 27 Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, Decision of May 20, 1993. 28 Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, Decision of October 22, 2000. 29 Tutela Legal. The mass executions in El Mozote and neighboring locales, July 23, 1992 (Annex A to the petitioners’ communication of November 11, 2002). 30 Special Report of the Ombudsman, op. cit. 31 Supplementary testimony by Pedro Chicas Romero before the Second Court of First Instance of San Francisco Gotera. 31 October 1990. Court record. (Annex 2 to the petitioners’ communication of 7 July 2006); statement by María Teofila Pereira before the Second Court of First Instance of San Francisco Gotera. 23 January 1991. Court record. (Annex 2 to the petitioners’ communication of 7 July 2006); statement by Domingo Vigil Amaya before the Second Court of First Instance of San Francisco Gotera. 30 January 1991. Court record. (Annex 2 to the petitioners’ communication of 7 July 2006); and statement by Sotero Guevara Martínez. 7 May 1991. Court record. (Annex 2 to the petitioners’ communication of 7 July 2006). In addition, the Second Court of First Instance of San Francisco Gotera, considered that there was sufficient evidence of the Atlacatl Battalion’s participation. See Decision of the of the Second Court of First Instance of San Francisco Gotera of 27 September 1993 (annexed to the communication of the State of October 14, October 1993. 32 Tutela Legal. The mass executions in El Mozote and neighboring locales, July 23, 1992 (Annex A to the petitioners’ communication of November 11, 2002).