EL SALVADOR: DEATHS OF THE DUTCH JOURNALISTS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06618912
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: April 10, 2019
• Case Number: F-2017-01565
• Publication Date: April 9, 1982

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EL SALVADOR: DEATHS OF THE DUTCH JOURNAL STS
1.
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EL SALVADOR: DEATHS OF AHE DUTCH JOURNALISTS
H:
IN EL SALVADOR WERE TFE RESULT OF A CHANCE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN
SALVADORAN ARMY TROOP AND THE GUERRILLA GROUP WITH WHICH THE
JOURNALISTS WERE TR ELLING. WHILE PRIVATELY BLAMING THE
CARELESSNESS OF TH GUERRILLA GUIDE FOR THE INCIDENT, FOR PUBLIC
CONSUMPTION THE GU RILLAS IMMEDIATELY LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN TO LAY
BLAME FOR THE JOU ALISTS' DEATHS ON THE DUARTE ADMINISTRATION AND
THE SALVADORAN H H COMMAND.
THIE FIREFIGHT
E MID-MARCH DEATHS OF FOUR DUTCH JOURNALISTS
2. EAR ON THE MORNING OF WEDNESDAY MARCH 17TH, A 25-MAN
SALVADORAN AR PATROL LEFT BASE TO INVESTIGATE REPORTS THAT .
GUERRILLAS W E USING A NEARBY SETTLEMENT AS A SUPPLY DEPOT. THE
SETTLEMENT, SAJERA, LIES ABANDONED ABOUT 6 KILOMETERS FROM THE
SALVADORAN MY BASE AT EL PARAISO.
.3. HE SALVADORAN SOLDIERS PATROLLED NEAR TASAJERA UNTIL ABOUT
1800 HOUR THEY WERE RETURNING TO BASE WHEN THEY ENCOUNTERED A
GUERRILL GROUP AND A FIREFIGHT ENSUED.
. WHEN THE GUERRILLAS WITHDREW, THEY LEFT BEHIND EIGHT BODIES
AND TWI RIFLES. THREE OF THE DEAD WERE GUERRILLAS, SALVADORAN MALES
IN THEIR LATE TEENS. A FOURTH MAN, SUSPECTED OF BEING A GUERRILLA
AS WELL, WAS ABOUT SIX FEET TALL, HEAVYSET, AND DID NOT APPEAR TO
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HAVE LATIN FEATURES. HE CARRIED NO DOCUMENTATION AND IT WAS
IMPOSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY HIM FURTHER. THE REMAINING FOUR CASUALTIES
WERE THE JOURNALISTS, IDENTIFIED FROM THEIR PASSPORTS AS JACOBUS
ANDRIES KOSTER, JAN CORNELIS KUIPER, HANS LODEWIJK TER LAAG, AND
JOHANNES JAN WILLEMSEN, ALL DUTCH CITIZENS.
5. ON-SITE INVESTIGATORS INDEPENDENT OF THE SALVADORAN
GOVERNMENT REPORT THAT ALL OF THE DEAD HAD DIED FROM MULTIPLE
GUNSHOT WOUNDS, APPARENTLY FIRED FROM M-16'S AND IN TWO CASES
POSSIBLY M-60 MACHINE GUNS. THE FATAL SHOTS APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN
FIRED FROM A DISTANCE; THEY WERE NOT FIRED AT EXTREME CLOSE RANGE.
6. AS A RESULT OF THEIR EXAMINATION OF THE DEAD, INSPECTI OF
THE BATTLE SITE, AND INTERVIEWS WITH MEMBERS OF THE SALVADORAN MY
PATROL INVOLVED IN THE FIREFIGHT, THE OBSERVERS CONCLUDED THAT/ HE
JOURNALISTS DIED OF MULTIPLE GUNSHOT WOUNDS RECEIVED DURING
ENCOUNTER WITH SOLDIERS OF THE "ATONAL" BATTALION WHILE ATTJ PTING
TO ENTER GUERRILLA TERRITORY SURREPTITIOUSLY 1N THE COMPA OF
GUIDES IDENTIFIED BY SALVADORAN ARMED FORCES AS GUERRILL
AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE.
7. THE SALVADORAN SOLDIERS ARRIVED BACK AT T EIR BASE AROUND
2000 HOURS ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17TH. ON THE MORN G OF THE 18TH,
.THE SALVADORAN HIGH COMMAND NOTIFIED THE DUTCH Ce1SUL OF THE
DEATHS OF THE FOUR JOURNALISTS, SALVADORAN GOV NMENT OFFICIALS
FROM THE CAPITAL AND INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS IM DIATELY BEGAN
SEPARATE INVESTIGATIONS AT THE SCENE OF THE I CIDENT.
8. IN THE MEANTIME, RUMORS OF WHAT H HAPPENED BEGAN TO
CIRCULATE THROUGH THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS ORPS THAT WAS IN SAN
SALVADOR TO COVER THE ELECTIONS. SKET Y EARLY REPORTS BEGAN TO
ARRIVE IN WESTERN EUROPE LATE IN THE EV NING OF THURSDAY, MARCH
18TH. MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE INCIDENT ICKLY EXTENDED BEYOND THE
FACTS AVAILABLE. IN PART THIS REFLE ED COMPETITION AMONG THE
HUNDREDS OF FOREIGN JOURNALISTS IN SALVADOR AT THE TIME. BEYOND
THIS, HOWEVER, THERE IS EVIDENCE TF T THE PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN
INITIATED BY THE GUERRILLAS INFLU CED THE CONTENT OF NEWS STORIES
BEING REPORTED IN WESTERN EUROPE ND THAT THE SOVIET UNION WAS USING
THE INCIDENT TO DAMAGE.U.S.-DUT RELATIONS.
9. FRIDAY MORNING EDIT 'ONS OF NEWSPAPERS IN THE NETHERLANDS
GAVE FRONT PAGE COVERAGE TO T STORY. MOST OF THEM GAVE FACTUAL
ACCOUNTS OF WHAT WAS KNOWN A THAT TIME. THE NEWSPAPER, "TROUW,"
HOWEVER, CARRIED A REPORT F M SAN SALVADOR BY JAN SCHMEITZ THAT
ASSERTED THAT THE FOUR WER� LURED INTO AN AMBUSH BY GOVERNMENT
TROOPS, ARRESTED, AND KIL _D.
10. BY MID-AFTE 00N ON FRIDAY, "TASS" WAS BROADCASTING IN
ENGLISH FROM MOSCOW TH "AN AMBUSH WAS LAID FOR THE JOURNALISTS
NEAR THE SETTLEMENT OF ARAISO WHERE THEY WERE SHOT POINT BLANK."
AMONG THE FACTS "PROV G" THAT THE JOURNALISTS WERE "MURDERED" TASS
MENTIONED THE PROXIM Y OF A "MAJOR MILITARY BASE WHERE 'EXPERTS'
FROM AMONG U.S. GRE BERETS ARE TRAINING SALVADORAN PUNITIVE
TROOPS." AT THE SA TIME, IN EL SALVADOR, THE GUERRILLA STATION
"RADIO FARABUNDO M TI," WAS REPORTING FALSELY IN SPANISH THAT
THAT "THE ARMED F CES HAVE ADMITTED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IN THE
ASSASSINATION OF OUR DUTCH NEWSMEN ON 16 (SIC) MARCH."
THE NAMES. OF THE FOUR DUTCH
JOURNALISTS AD NOT APPEARED ON A "DEATH LIST" THAT CIRCULATED IN
SAN SALVADO THE WEEK BEFORE, ALLEGEDLY ISSUED BY THE FAR RIGHT.
THE "RADIO ARABUNDO MARTI" BROADCAST THUS CONTINUED: "THE MEN
RESPONSIB FOR THE DEATHS OF THE FOUR DUTCH NEWSMEN, ALONG WITH
THOSE OF HE OTHER CIVILIANS WITH THEM, ARE COLONEL ADALBERTO REYES
MENA, T COMMANDER OF THE EL PARAFS0 MILITARY GARRISON IN
CHALAT ANGO, AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THAT GENOCIDAL GARRISON."
12. LATE IN THE EVENING OF FRIDAY THE 19TH, A SECOND GUERRILLA
STATION, "RADIO VENCEREMOS," BROADCAST ALONG SIMILAR LINES, CLAIMING
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THAT "THE REGIME. HAS ORDERED THE, KILLING OF FOUR NEWSMEN." IN AN
INTERESTING DEPARTURE FROM PREVIOUS REPORTING, THE "RADIO
VENCEREMOS" BROADCAST WENT ON TO DENY THAT THE JOURNALISTS WERE IN
SOME SIGNIFICANT SENSE "LINKED" WITH THE GUERRILLAS -- THUS REPLY
TO AN ACCUSATION THAT NO ONE ELSE HAD MADE.
13. MEANWHILE, IN THE NETHERLANDS, A "DIPLOMATIC
REPRESENTATIVE" OF THE FMLN, GERMAN AVALOS, TOLD THE MEDIA T T THE
FOUR JOURNALISTS WERE MURDERED. AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE S F-
STYLED "COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN EL SALVADOR" (CORES.)
MARIANELLA GARCIA, ON A VISIT TO THE NETHERLANDS, ALSO T
REPORTERS THAT THE FOUR WERE MURDERED BY EL SALVADORAN LITARY
FORCES.
14. ON MONDAY THE 22ND, THE GERMAN LEFT-CENTE NEWSPAPER,
"RANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU," WROTE THAT THE DEATHS OF TH FOUR DUTCH
NEWSMEN "COULD NOT HAVE BEEN PLANNED AND CARRIED 0 WITHOUT
PERMISSION BY DEFENSE MINISTER JOSE GUILLERMO GAR A." AND,
FURTHER, THAT "THE ASSAULT ON THE NEWSMEN BENEFI , OF COURSE, THE
RIGHTIST EXTREMISTS AND THE JUNTA." "STUTTGART ZEITUNG" WAS LESS
OBLIQUE: "THE RIGHTIST TERRORIST SQUADS AND PR ABLY ALSO THE
NATIONAL GUARD AND THE RIGHTIST MILITARY TOOK CTION TO GET RID OF
THE 'WITNESSES OF. THEALOODY SLAUGHTER FOR WH H THEY ARE
RESPONSIBLE."
15. FINALLY, ONE OF THE MOST FLAGR T ATTEMPTS TO EXPLOIT THE
INCIDENT HAS THE EARMARKS OF A SOVIET AC VE MEASURES OPERATION: ON
MONDAY THE 22ND, THE DUTCH NEWSPAPER, H LKSKRANT," PUBLISHED A
STORY BY JAN VAN DER PUTTEN, ITS MEXIC CITY CORRESPONDENT, THAT
BEGAN: "A HIGH-RANKING OFFICIAL OF TH AMERICAN EMBASSY IN SAN
SALVADOR, WHO HAS ACCESS TO THE INTE IGENCE SERVICES OF THE
GOVERNMENT AND THE ARMY 'OF EL SALVAD R, REVEALED IN A CONVERSATION
WITH FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS THAT 'T E SOLDIERS WERE WAITING FOR THE
DUTCHMEN IN THE HILLS. THERE IS N DOUBT ABOUT IT THAT THEY WALKED
INTO AN AMBUSH.'"
16: ONE DAY LATER, "TASS BEGAN REPLAYING' THE VAN Da PUTTEN
STORY, WITH ITS OWN ELABORATIO'S. BY NOW "SECRET SERVICE MEN" WERE
ALLEGED TO HAVE "HUNTED" THE UTCHMEN "FOR A LONG TIME, LURED THEM
INTO A TRAP AND SHOT THEM IN COLD BLOOD." FALSELY CLAIMING THAT
THIS STATEMENT HAD BEEN FRI. TED IN ALL MAJOR DUTCH NEWSPAPERS, THE
"TASS" REPORT CONCLUDED BY ASSERTING THAT THESE EVENTS "SHED LIGHT
ON THE U.S. ROLE IN EL SA ADOR."
17.- THREE POINTS .ELF TO PUT THESE EVENTS IN PERSPECTIVE.
'FIRST, THE REPORTER WHO ORGINATED THE STORY, VAN DER PUTTEN, HAD
RECENTLY FILED ANOTHER! FALSE STORY -- CONCERNING THE PRESENCE OF
DUTCH SHIPS IN A NATO MARITIME EXERCISE -- THAT HAD PRECIPITATED A
FUROR IN THE NETHERL NDS OVER U.S. POLICY TOWARD CENTRAL AMERICA.
SECOND; THE TIMING F-EVENTS ON,THE DAY OF THE JOURNALISTS' DEATHS
SHOWS THAT IT WAS MPOSSIBLE FOR THE SALVADORAN SOLDIERS TO HAVE HAD
ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE HAT THE JOURNALISTS WERE COMING -- AND THUS
REFUTES THE ENTR MENT THEORY. THAT IS, THE SOLDIERS OF THE
SALVADORAN ARMY ATROL HAD BEEN IN THE FIELD SINCE BEFORE DAWN, HAD
BEEN. OUT OF TOU H WITH THEIR BASE ALL DAY, AND WERE NEAR THE ROAD
THAT THE JOURN ISTS DROVE IN ON ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS TIME FOR THEM
TO RETURN TO RRISON. THE REPORTERS THEMSELVES DID NOT LEAVE SAN
SALVADOR UNT 3:45 PM -- MORE THAN EIGHT HOURS AFTER THE ARMY
-PATROL HAD B OKEN COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT WITH ITS BASE. FURTHERMORE
THE REPORTE TOOK PAINS TO CONCEAL THEIR INTENTIONS. UPON LEAVING
THEIR HOTE THE REPORTERS HAD SAID THEY WERE DRIVING TO
TEGUCIGALP , HONDURAS; SOME 200 KILOMETERS AWAY FROM THEIR ACTUAL
DESTINATI BY HEADING EAST ON THE.PANAMERICAN HIGHWAY THEIR TRUE
DESTINAT aN COULD HAVE BEEN KEPT HIDDEN UNTIL THEY TURNED NORTH
SOME 15 0 30 KILOMETERS OUT OF THE CAPITAL. AS A FURTHER STEP TO
CONCEA HEIR PLANS, THE JOURNALISTS SWITCHED VEHICLES FOR THE TRIP,
TRAVEL ING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A GkEEN VAN INSTEAD OF THE YELLOW
CAR T Y HAD USED FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF THEIR STAY IN EL
SALVe aOR. THIRD AND' MOST IMPORTANT, INTELLIGENCE REPORTING ON THE
NAT E OF THE JOURNALISTS' DEATHS AND ON GUERRILLA PLANS TO EXPLOIT
TH SITUATION CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES THE FALSITY OF THE VAN DER PUTTEN
ST Y AND THE PROPAGANDISTIC NATURE OF ITS TIMING AND DISTRIBUTION.
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