Equipo Nizkor - Extradition complaint seeking extradition to Spain of a former Salvadoran colonel for the murder of five Spanish Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989.

FILED
APR 08 2015
Julie Richards Johnston, Clerk
US District Court, EDNC
By [signed] DEP CLK

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
NORTHERN DIVISION
no. 2:15- mj- 1021

IN RE REQUEST BY SPAIN
FOR THE EXTRADITION OF
INOCENTE ORLANDO MONTANO MORALES EXTRADITION COMPLAINT

I, Eric D. Goulian, being duly sworn, state on information and belief that the following is true and correct:

1. I am an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina. I am acting in this matter on behalf of the United States and the Government of Spain.

2. The extradition provisions in force between the United States and Spain are found in the 2004 U.S.-Spain Extradition Instrument between the United States of America and Spain, signed on December 17, 2004 ("the Treaty").

3. Pursuant to the Treaty, the Government of Spain has submitted a request through diplomatic channels for the extradition of INOCENTE ORLANDO MONTANO MORALES ("MONTANO MORALES " or "the fugitive").

4. Foreign Charges. MONTANO MORALES is wanted by Spanish authorities so that he can be prosecuted for terrorist acts involving the murder of five Spanish Jesuit priests under Articles 174 bis and 406 of the Spanish Penal Code of 1973 (now codified at Articles 572.1 and 139, respectively, of the Spanish Penal Code of 1995).

Article II of the Treaty defines extraditable offenses, in part, as those punishable under the laws of both Spain and the United States, where the term of imprisonment exceeds one year. In Spain, terrorism resulting in murder is punishable by imprisonment in excess of one year. The corresponding United States statute for terrorism resulting in murder is found at Title 18, United States Code, Section 2332. Conviction for this offense also is punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year.

5. Foreign Arrest Warrant. A warrant for the arrest of MONTANO MORALES was issued in Spain on March 31, 2011. This warrant, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A-l to this Complaint, remains outstanding. An English translation of the warrant is attached as Exhibit A-2.

6. Facts underlying foreign charges. Between 1980 and 1991, El Salvador was engulfed in a civil conflict between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front ("FMLN"). In the early morning hours of November 16, 1989, towards the end of this conflict, members of the Salvadoran military murdered six Jesuit priests (Ignacio Ellacuria Beascoechea; Ignacio Martin-Baro; Segundo MontesMozo; Armando Lopez Quintana; Juan Ramon Moreno; and Joaquin Lopez y Lopez), their housekeeper (Julia Elba), and the housekeeper's 16-year-old daughter (Celina Mariceth Ramos) at the Universidad Centroamericana in El Salvador. Five of the Jesuit priests were Spanish nationals; the remaining victims were born in El Salvador.

Father Ellacuria and his brother Jesuits consistently had called for discussions between the FMLN and the military-led government to end the strife. MONTANO MORALES, who at the time of the murders held the rank of Colonel in the Salvadoran army and also served as Vice Minister of Defense and Public Safety, shared oversight responsibility over a government radio station which days before the murders issued threats urging the killing of Father Ellacuria and his fellow priests. The day before the murders, MONTANO MORALES participated in a series of meetings, at the last of which one of his fellow officers, in MONTANO MORALES's presence, gave the order to kill Father Ellacuria and leave no witnesses. The following day, members of the Salvadoran army executed Father Ellacuria and five other priests, their housekeeper, and the housekeeper's daughter.

7. Request for Arrest. By Diplomatic Note No. 2/12 dated January 4, 2012, as supplemented by Diplomatic Note 59/14 dated August 21, 2014, and the Declaration of Maria Teresa Sandoval dated March 18, 2015, Spain requested the extradition of Inocente Orlando Montano Morales so that he can be prosecuted for the terrorist murders of Father Ignacio Martin Baro, Father Segundo Montes Mozo, Father Armando Lopez Quintana, Father Juan Ramon Moreno, and Father Ignacio Ellacuria Beascoechea.

8. Fugitive's presence in the United States. MONTANO MORALES is located in the jurisdiction of this Court. He is currently an inmate at Rivers Correctional Institute in Winton, North Carolina, in the Eastern District of North Carolina. His Register Number is 94081-038. His scheduled release date is April 15, 2015.

9. Fugitive's description. MONTANO MORALES was born on July 4, 1943, in El Salvador. Two photographs of MONTANO MORALES are attached to this complaint at Exhibit B.

10. Title 18, United States Code, Section 3184 provides:

Whenever there is a treaty or convention for extradition between the United States and any foreign government, or in cases arising under section 3181(b), any justice or judge of the United States, or any magistrate judge authorized so to do by a court of the United States, or any judge of a court of record of general jurisdiction of any State, may, upon complaint made under oath, charging any person found within his jurisdiction, with having committed within the jurisdiction of any such foreign government any of the crimes provided for by such treaty or convention, or provided for under section 3181(b), issue his warrant for the apprehension of the person so charged, that he may be brought before such justice, judge, or magistrate judge, to the end that the evidence of criminality may be heard and considered. Such complaint may be filed before and such warrant may be issued by a judge or magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia if the whereabouts within the United States of the person charged are not known or, if there is reason to believe the person will shortly enter the United States. If, on such hearing, he deems the evidence sufficient to sustain the charge under the provisions of the proper treaty or convention, or under section 3181(b), he shall certify the same, together with a copy of all the testimony taken before him, to the Secretary of State, that a warrant may issue upon the requisition of the proper authorities of such foreign government, for the surrender of such person, according to the stipulations of the treaty or convention; and he shall issue his warrant for the commitment of the person so charged to the proper jail, there to remain until such surrender shall be made.

Accordingly, the undersigned respectfully requests pursuant to the Treaty and 18 U.S.C. § 3184 that a warrant be issued for the arrest of INOCENTE ORLANDO MONTANO MORALES.