By Vanessa Cardinale
Many of you who have traveled to Las Anonas may know Maura Contreras (partner of Antonio and mother of Julia, Ruben, Sara and Santos) as former president of the Women’s Committee in Las Anonas, community leader, or simply as an excellent cook who has opened her home and kitchen to the many RIC and Builders delegates who have visited through the years. She has often spoken with delegations about her experiences during the war, and most significantly, the forced kidnapping and disappearance of her children, Serapio Cristian, Herminia Gregoria and Julia Inés by the Salvadoran Military in August of 1982.
This past October, Maura traveled to Washington DC to the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights under the Organization of American States (OAS). She appeared before the court to give testimony for a case she has brought against the Salvadoran State for the “negation of justice” in the forceful kidnapping and disappearance of her three children by the Salvadoran Military on August 25th, 1982.
Maura finally had the opportunity tell her story to the court. In other settings, she has often recounted the tragic events of that day, hoping to make sure that
these types of atrocities never happen again. Below is a translated excerpt from an interview she gave the Salvadoran newspaper, Co-Latino, retelling the story of the disappearance of her children.
The facts go back to the morning of August 25th 1982, when members of the Atlacatl Battalion made a military operation around the volcano of San Vicente, denominated "Operation Ring".
Maura and other original families of the Canton San Buena Vista, in San Vicente, had taken refuge in a small valley, known as the "Conacastada", from fear of the violence that reigned in the zone.
The soldiers of the Atlacatl Battalion, who were operating out of the area of Guajoyo in 1980, left to burn houses and to track "guerrillas". According to Maura Contreras, [they] "did not respect the life of anybody, [and] for that reason we went into hiding". But, the first of August of 1982, a military unit ran a surprise raid in the zone, within the framework of the Operacion Anillo (Operation Ring), remembers Maura. “The bombs, shots and desperate shouts of the people and the crying children for the noise all around us and the solders insulting us, and they stole my children.”
Serapio Cristian, 2 years old [at the time], was the first snatched off her lap, then Herminia Gregoria, 4 years old, who was picked up by her hair by a soldier, when she attempted to run next to her mother.
With Julia Ines, who was 4 months and 5 days old, “I ran to hide myself with her in my arms and covered her mouth so that no one would hear her cries, but I fell and it was there that they took her from me.” ... “It was a miracle that I was saved, because they grabbed people, raped, burned, and tortured them. I saw how they killed many pregnant women, took out the fetuses, and the people were left in this state. “
Maura estimates that at least one hundred people died that day. The number was so high because there were also people from other communities in the area. … “That entire day the soldiers were there, and it was by the grace of God that we survived, buried under the bushes and earth. We didn’t come out until eight days later, because our fear kept us there. I remember that I ate rotten sticks, thinking that it would make me lactate and I gave the milk to my children and husband, because we didn’t even have water… after we returned and we were able to bury the burned bodies.” remembers Maura.
She has the conviction that her children had been given up for adoption, because when they were captured they also took their identification cards. Also there are two witnesses who saw the children alive with the soldiers.
Maura has been working with the organization Pro-Búsqueda to search for her children since the peace accords. Pro-Búsqueda was created by the late Jesuit Jon Cortina to assist parents searching for their children who were disappeared during the Civil war. In October 2002, with the support of Pro-Búsqueda, Maura filed a writ of habeas corpus (‘exhibición personal’) before the Constitutional Division of the Supreme Court of Justice. In February 2003, the Court issued its decision in this regard, in which it recognized the "constitutional violation of the right to physical freedom" of the three children, and urged the Attorney-General’s Office "to take the necessary measures, in line with its constitutional powers, to establish the condition and whereabouts of the [disappeared children]. Since testifying this past October, Maura and Pro-Búsqueda are awaiting the court’s decision. Both are hopeful that justice will prevail.
I had been playing telephone tag with Maura for a couple of weeks to interview her for this article, so when I received a phone call from her one morning in mid-December I took out my notebook and expected to write down some notes from our conversation. The connection was terrible, I only heard every other word and after a couple minutes was ready to reschedule the call. Despite my frustration, Maura insisted on communicating something to me that I kept missing. I assumed it was regarding the case, so I asked “Did you win the case?” Finally, I heard her say: “La encontramos, la encontramos a mi hija!”
We found her, we found my daughter!
Maura was calling me from the office of Pro-Búsqueda in San Salvador and had just been reunited with her daughter, Herminia Gregoria, whom she hadn’t seen in 24 years since she was kidnapped. Maura learned that Herminia was raised by a military family in El Salvador, and in her adulthood had moved to Guatemala. Maura was making preparations for a party in Las Anonas for her daughter’s first visit there. As we were getting off the phone, Maura added, “Well, now I just have two more to find.”
Maura Contreras: A Story of Hope in Two Parts
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