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February 24, 2012

Salvadoran General Cleared for Extradition over 1980 Murders of U.S. Nuns 
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A former El Salvador defense minister accused of murder and torture has
been cleared for deportation from the United States. In a landmark
decision, a Florida immigration judge ruled Thursday that General Carlos
Eugenio Vides Casanova can be sent back to El Salvador for his role in
the notorious killings of four U.S. churchwomen in 1980. It is the first
time an immigration judge has ruled a top-ranking foreign military
leader can be deported for committing abuses under a 2004 law intended
to bar human rights violators from U.S. soil. It is also the first time
General Vides has been held responsible for the churchwomen's deaths in
a court of law. General Vides was a close U.S. government ally during
his stint as defense minister for the Salvadoran junta between 1983 and
1989. The churchwomen's families have fought for years to hold him and
other U.S.-backed Salvadoran officials responsible for the deaths. Among
them was Bill Ford, who waged a long-term battle for justice in the
murder of his sister, Ita Ford, before his death in 2008. In response to
the ruling, Bill Ford's son, Bill Ford, Jr., said: "Since the women were
killed, my father made this the single purpose of his life. I’m sure
he knows and is well pleased that [General Vides] may no longer be able
to live in this country to enjoy the fruits of his brutality."



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