E/CN.4/1991/56
page 90
According to information received, three other persons who were members
of the Emmanuel Bautista de San Salvador Church were detained on
25 January 1990 by armed civilians. They were:
Victor Manuel Fuentes
Carlos Armando Avalos
Inocente Garay.
Although there is no precise information on their arrest, it was learned
that they had been in the hands of the Treasury Police. The first two were
released on 29 January 1990 and the third of them is allegedly still being
held, on charges of being a guerrilla.
(c) Detention and expulsion of foreign helpers of churches
Complaints have been received about the following cases:
Jennifer Casolo, the representative in El Salvador of the "Christian
Educational Seminars" organization who was detained on 25 November 1989. She
was held for 18 days in Ilopango prison, released on 13 December 1989 and
deported to the United States.
Father Miguel Andueza, a Spanish Dominican priest, who was detained by
uniformed persons on 20 November 1989 in Santa Ana.
Reverend Brian Rude, of Canadian nationality, who was detained
on 11 November 1989 by the security forces and expelled from El Salvador;
(d) Death threats and harassment
It has been reported that Catholic Archbishop Rivera y Damas received
telephone death threats, as did Lutheran Bishop Medardo Ernesto Denez Soto,
who was forced to flee the country following bomb explosions at Lutheran
churches on 28 December 1989 and 10 January 1990. Other sources have affirmed
that the Jesuit Provincial in El Salvador also received death threats.
According to other sources, on 23 November 1989 soldiers distributed a
broadsheet in Tedtepeque, accusing six members of the town's parish church of
being communists and enemies of the people. The broadsheet was signed by a
so-called "Permanent Committee for National Salvation"»
61. In a communication of 15 June 1990 addressed to the Government of Ghana,
the following information was transmitted by the Special Rapporteur:
"It has been reported that the Government has imposed a freeze on any
activity of Jehovah's Witnesses. An official statement allegedly ordered that
their meeting places remain closed throughout the country and that their
office at Nungua stop operating. It has further been reported that
Mr. Gaylord F. Burt, an American missionary, was expelled from the country on
15 June 1989, together with members of his staff."