Witnesses for the Prosecution?

Diplomatic immunity is a cherished principle of relations among nations. But even so precious a procedural safeguard must occasionally give way to a higher need. The United States is about to confront such an occasion in El Salvador, where the judge investigating the brutal murders of six Jesuit priests wishes to take testimony from two U.S. military officers.

The two officers, Maj. Eric Buckland and Col. Milton Menjivar--of the U.S. military group in El Salvador--enjoy diplomatic immunity. Menjivar is the unit’s commander. Judge Ricardo Zamora’s request that they testify is part of his probe into the priests’ murder, which occurred last November during a bitter offensive by leftist insurgents. On the night of Nov. 16, Salvadoran soldiers entered the campus of the Jesuits’ Central American University, dragged the priests from their beds and murdered them, along with their housekeeper and her daughter.

After long delay, charges were filed against five enlisted men and four officers, including Col. Guillermo A. Benavides Moreno, who commanded the country’s military academy at the time of the killings. More recently, Judge Zamora’s inquiry has forced President Alfredo Cristiani and Chief of Staff Rene Emilio Ponce to admit that they had authorized a search of the Jesuits’ residence shortly before the killings.

Now, Zamora wants to question Buckland and Menjivar. How did the major know of the army’s involvement in the murders at least two weeks before the government admitted it? Why did he delay passing the information to his superior? Such testimony is critical to unraveling the question of who authorized the killings and then conspired to cover them up.

Zamora’s official request is making its way through diplomatic channels to the U.S. State Department. Some officials there are said to fear the precedent such a waiver would set. But there is more to fear from any hint of U.S. complicity in a cover-up. Washington has been insisting on progress in this infamous case as a condition of continued U.S. support. It would be illogical and hypocritical for us to deny the Salvadoran judicial system our cooperation.