E/CN.4/1992/52 page 23 34. In a reply dated 18 November 1991, the Government of El Salvador supplied the following information: "The annex raises questions about the investigation of the murder of the six Jesuit priests, their cook and her daughter on 16 November 1989. The question is also raised of what happened to Marina Isabel Palacios, who you say was transferred to Ilopango Prison, accused of terrorist activities. As regards the investigation into the case of the Jesuit priests, a trial was held and a jury court found two of those involved guilty. The judge subsequently sentenced those two (Colonel Benavides and Lieutenant Mendoza). It is felt in El Salvador that the murder of the Jesuit priests, some of whom had lived in El Salvador for many years with Salvadorian citizenship, was not attributable to their status as members of a religious order. The same year the terrorists murdered the former Jesuit, Mr. Francisco Peccorini; the cowardly murder of this distinguished thinker was not presented as religious persecution but as a political act." 35. In a communication sent on 8 October 1991 addressed to the Government of El Salvador, the following information was transmitted by the Special Rapporteur: "According to information received, there are continuing violations of the human rights of religious leaders and persons belonging to particular religious denominations which are involved, out of social commitment, in work with the most disadvantaged classes of society. Although these cases are continuing to take place in a situation of widespread violence, the sources state that these persons were presumably the victims of violence because of their pastoral and church work. It is reported that the groups operating against these persons do so with the support of the armed forces. Attention is drawn to the following cases: Bishop Medardo Gómez, President of the Salvadorian Lutheran Synod, is said to have received death threats on Monday, 15 July 1991, from the Salvadorian Anti-communist Front. Bishop Gómez had already received threats in 1989 and 1990, bombs were placed in his church on various occasions and many of those working with him were persecuted for performing their pastoral duties. He was also abducted for two days by a death squad in 1983, for supposedly collaborating with the guerrillas, during which time he was chained to a wall and given no food until he was handed over to the national police. In February of this year, Bishop Gómez was the subject of a defamatory campaign through a series of articles in the Salvadorian press accusing him of having links with the guerrilla movements. According to other sources of information, the nuns of the Little Community in San Salvador have been persecuted, have received death threats and have had their residence searched. It is reported that between 2 and 5 July 1991, the sisters received telephone calls threatening them, insulting them, accusing them of being guerrillas and telling them that they were under constant watch. A man's voice urged them to leave their religious premises in Primera Calle Poniente No. 3516 in San Salvador, saying that further action would soon be taken against them, as they had already been warned. According to the source, on 6 July 1991 their residence was searched, as they realized