9 operation we carried out, it’s natural that there were a series of people killed, some without weapons, 20 including some women, and I understand, some children”. 43. According to the human rights ombudsman (Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos) of El Salvador, “the massacres were a deliberate practice as part of a strategy systematically planned by the armed forces of El Salvador (...) they were not the result of any abuses by certain units of the Salvadoran army or of overly zealous middle ranking officers. The extermination of civilians was a State policy, an aberrant and extreme expression of the military counterinsurgency strategy applied by the Salvadoran State primarily during the period from 1980 to 1982, and which was 21 known as the ‘scorched earth’ [tierra arrasada] policy”. In a report on civilian massacres during the armed conflict in El Salvador, the human rights ombudsman explains the characteristics of the “scorched earth” strategy: The modus operandi here was the indiscriminate annihilation of one or more settlements in the context of a single operation. At the same time the crops, houses and property of those who had been executed or forced to flee were destroyed or burned.22 44. The Truth Commission, for its part, pointed to a pattern of conduct in these massacres, and declared that “it is impossible to blame this pattern of conduct on local commanders and to claim that senior commanders did not know anything about it (...). Massacres of the peasant population were 23 reported repeatedly.” 2. The National Reconciliation Act, the General Amnesty Act for Consolidation of the Peace, and decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice 45. On January 23, 1992, after signature of the Chapultepec Peace Accord on January 16, Legislative Decree 147, the National Reconciliation Act, was issued. Article 1 of the decree provides: “Amnesty shall be granted to all persons who participated as direct or indirect perpetrators or as accomplices in committing political crimes, related common crimes or common crimes carried out by at least 20 persons, prior to January 1, 1992, excepting in all cases the common crime of kidnapping, 24 covered by article 220 of the criminal code”. 46. Article 6 of the decree established exceptions to the amnesty as follows: This amnesty shall not apply to persons who, according to the report of the Truth Commission, participated in grave acts of violence committed after January 1, 1980, whose impact on society urgently demands that the public know the truth, regardless of the sector to which they belonged 25 (...) 47. On March 20, 1993, five days after the Truth Commission presented its report, the Legislative Assembly adopted the General Amnesty Act for Consolidation of the Peace, repealing article 6 of the National Reconciliation Act. Article 1 of the LAGCP valid at that date provides: Absolute, full and unconditional amnesty shall be granted to all persons, whether nationals or aliens, who participated in any manner in committing political crimes, related common crimes or common crimes carried out by at least 20 persons, prior to January 1, 1992, whether or not such persons have been convicted or have had proceedings initiated against them, and this amnesty 20 Americas Watch. The Massacre at El Mozote: The Need to Remember. March 4, 1992. (Annexed to the petitioners’ communication of April 24, 1992), citing Washington Post, June 10, 1982, “US tactics failed to prevent Salvadoran deaths.” 21 Special Report of the Human Rights Ombudsman on civilian massacres by State agents during the internal armed conflict in El Salvador between 1980 and 1992, March 7, 2005 (Annex 2 to the petitioners’ communication of May 3, 2007). 22 Special Report of the Human Rights Ombudsman, op. cit. 23 Report of the UN Truth Commission, op. cit. 24 National Reconciliation Act, Legislative Decree 147 of January 23, 1992. 25 Ibid.