information provided by the journalists Raymond Bonner and Alma Guillermoprieto as “FMLN propaganda.”66 75. As the State has acknowledged, to the contrary, these journalists provided the first evidence that the Salvadoran Army “had incurred in the brutal murder of civilians,” indicating that more than 700 peasants had been murdered, mainly children, women and the elderly. For its part, the United States Government indicated that “there was no proof to confirm that government forces had massacred civilians in the areas of operation,” adding that “there were probably no more than 300 people living in El Mozote at the time of the massacre.” The information available indicates that these versions were based on a report prepared by the United States Embassy in San Salvador, without having visited the scene of the events.67 At the national level, “an army spokesperson […] assured that the accounts of a massacre committed by members of the army were ‘completely false’ and that they had been invented by the subversives.”68 76. In the same vein, it is worth noting that, before 1990, the State had not conducted any type of investigation into the massacres69 (infra paras. 251 and 252). The excavations and exhumations of the remains beginning in 1992 – once the Truth Commission had begun operating – by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), the start of which was seriously delayed and hindered,70 removed any shadow of doubt about the truth of what had happened and provided conclusive evidence of one of the largest civilian massacres to have occurred on the American continent71 (infra paras. 231 and 232). 77. In this regard, it is pertinent to underscore the State’s words during the public hearing, invoking the apology expressed by the President of the Republic on January 16, 2012, in the village of El Mozote during the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the Peace Accords, when he acknowledged that: “a little more than thirty years ago, a criminal excess took place in El Mozote and the neighboring communities and a systematic attempt was made to deny and conceal it; […] during three days and three nights, the largest massacre against civilians in the contemporary history of Latin America was perpetrated; almost a thousand Salvadorans were exterminated there, half of them children under the age of 18; […] numerous barbaric acts and human rights violations were committed [t]here; innocent people were tortured and executed; women and girls were raped, hundreds of Salvadorans today form part 66 Cf. Newspaper article in The Washington Post on October 22, 1992, entitled “Skeletons Verify Killing of Salvadoran Children: Army Battalion Accused in 1981 Massacre” (evidence file, tome II, annex 13 to the submission of the case, folios 1555 to 1557), and Prologue by Aryeh Neier in: Pedro Linger Gasiglia, El Mozote. La Masacre 25 años después. 1st. Ed., Buenos Aires, 2007 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 4 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5609 and 5615). 67 Similarly, see compact disc with video “Denial” (evidence file, tome X, annex 10.3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 6698). 68 Report of the UCA Human Rights Institute (IDHUCA), Consideraciones sobre la impunidad a propósito de la masacre de El Mozote, Proceso: número 451, November 7, 1990 (evidence file, tome III, annex 2 to the submission of the case, folio 1290) 69 Cf. Report of the Secretariat of the Second First Instance Court of San Francisco Gotera, department of Morazán of April 19, 1991 (evidence file, tome II, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1772). 70 Cf. Joint expert opinion provided by affidavit by Luis Fondebrider, Mercedes C. Doretti and Silvana Turner on April 18, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folios 10306 to 10312). See also, Internal report of the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado of March 27, 1992 (evidence file, tome II, annex 10 to the submission of the case, folios 1537 to 1539), and Communiqué of the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado de San Salvador issued on April 8, 1992 (evidence file, tome II, annex 11 to the submission of the case, folios 1545 to 1549). 71 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission for El Salvador, From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador, 1992-1993 (evidence file, tome II, annex 1 to the submission of the case, folio 1197); Agence France Presse (AFP) report written by Carlos Mario Márquez on November 13, 1991, entitled “Iglesia exige investigar brutal matanza de campesinos ocurrida en 1981” [Church demands investigation of brutal slaughter of peasants in 1981] (evidence file, tome II, annex 14, to the submission of the case, folios 1559 to 1560); Newspaper article in The Washington Post on October 22, 1992, entitled “Skeletons Verify Killing of Salvadoran Children: Army Battalion Acused in 1981 Massacre” (evidence file, tome II, annex 13 to the submission of the case, folios 1555 to 1557), and Newspaper article in The New York Times on October 22, 1992, entitled “Salvador Skeletons Confirm Reports of Massacre in 1981” (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 4 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5603 to 5604). 25