海角大神

After more than 25 years of imagining how her mother and five younger brothers were killed by the Army during El Salvador鈥檚 brutal civil war, Mar铆a Angelica Escobar got used to the nightmares.

But just over a year ago, the remains of Ms. Escobar鈥檚 mother and brothers were discovered in a mass grave in the community of San Crist贸bal, in the hills surrounding the central Salvadoran town of Suchitoto. The exhumation began in September 2011, and slightly more than a year later, on Oct. 27, the remains of the victims were turned over to their families for burial.

鈥淚 feel happy and satisfied,鈥� Escobar says. 鈥淚 can rest now, knowing that they鈥檙e no longer abandoned.鈥�

Five of the 18 victims in the grave 鈥� victims of a 1984 Army massacre in the community of San Crist贸bal 鈥� were Escobar鈥檚 family members.

The grave where her family was found is just one of hundreds of mass graves exhumed since the signing of El Salvador鈥檚 1992 peace accords, which brought to a close a 12-year war that left more than 75,000 people dead or disappeared, largely at the hand of the Army. But, unlike most mass graves uncovered by local and international nongovernmental organizations, this one held the remains of mainly children. It was a remnant of the conflict that has garnered renewed attention when late last month, the Salvadoran government publicly apologized for the forced disappearances and killings of hundreds of children during the civil war. 听

"Per instructions of the President of the Republic, Mauricio Funes, , from the hundreds of families that were victims of the forced disappearance of boys and girls during the armed conflict," said Hugo Mart铆nez, minister of foreign relations, in a press conference. "[Pardon] from these families that suffered infinite pain from being hit by the disappearance of their most beloved and most vulnerable ones.鈥� Mr. Mart铆nez said.听

The public apology was part of a 2011 sentencing by the Inter-American Human Rights Court related to government reparations for the disappearances of six children from three families between 1981 and 1985. Despite the apology, human rights organizations have critiqued President Funes鈥檚 government for failing to prosecute any government agents. A truth commission found agents were responsible for 85 percent of the human rights abuses during El Salvador鈥檚 civil war, according to a 1993 report commissioned by the United Nations.

'Everyone suffered'

During El Salvador鈥檚 civil war, which lasted from 1980 -1992, leftist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front 鈥� which is now the country鈥檚 ruling party 鈥� took up arms against the US-backed Salvadoran troops and right-wing death squads. The military鈥檚 scorched-earth campaign meant it was common practice to eliminate entire towns, killing men, women, and children. In what is believed to have been an effort to invoke terror, it was common practice to 鈥渄isappear鈥� any surviving children, taking them to orphanages, or adopting them into military or foreign families. Sometimes the children were even forced into the Army. 听

鈥淲e can鈥檛 forget that these children were innocent victims of a cruel war,鈥� says Ester Alvarenga, general coordinator of Pro-B煤squeda, a nonprofit organization working to find children who were disappeared during the war. 鈥淭he state has an obligation to investigate these cases and bring them to justice.鈥�

With as many as 20 new cases of war-time child disappearances coming to light each year, Ms. Alvarenga estimates that close to 2,000 children may have been disappeared during the war.

So far, Pro-B煤squeda has found 380 of those missing children 鈥� 52 of whom had been killed, and many of whom had been adopted into foreign families, mostly in the United States.

Survivor Andr茅s Antonio Romero鈥檚 children were disappeared in a 1983 massacre when his small community of Tenango-Guadalupe was ambushed by the Salvadoran Army. While he survived the massacre 鈥� he was imprisoned and tortured for 27 days 鈥� his wife and four of his six children were killed. One surviving son was kidnapped and forced into the Army. The second was adopted by a family in the US. With the help of international NGOs, Mr. Romero was able to reunite with both sons more than a decade ago.

But in what Romero called a show of 鈥渟olidarity,鈥� he attended the mass and burial of the 18 San Crist贸bal massacre victims in late October, even though he wasn鈥檛 related to any of them.

鈥淓veryone suffered,鈥� Mr. Romero says. 鈥淚 feel committed because ... I understand what these families are going through, because I suffered just like them.鈥�

A lesson for younger generations

鈥淭he exhumation process has been hard, seeing all the children鈥檚 little clothes and their things,鈥� says Candelario Antonio Flamenco, whose mother was killed during the San Crist贸bal massacre. His sister was identified among the victims in this mass grave.

鈥淏ut now I can give my sister a 海角大神 burial,鈥� Mr. Flamenco says.

Flamenco says the discovery is important for younger generations who grew up after the peace accords. 鈥淚 tell my daughter about what I suffered, what we all suffered, but she doesn鈥檛 understand,鈥� he says.

鈥淣ow, seeing the little coffins, going to the grave site, it will teach her about what happened, and to not forget.鈥�

Most of the bodies of the 75,000 dead or 8,000 disappeared have yet to be found or given proper burials, says Hel铆 Jeremias Hern谩ndez of the Madeleine Lagadec Center for the Promotion of Human Rights, the NGO that organized the exhumation and burial of the 18 San Crist贸bal massacre victims.

For Escobar, who says she appreciated the president鈥檚 apology even though the leftist government was not in power during the war, the burial of her mother and brothers represented the end of her nightmares.

鈥淚 feel at peace,鈥� she says. 鈥淎fter being abandoned for so long, now they won鈥檛 be forgotten.鈥�