2: THOMAS BLANTON, of the National Security Archive, a group that declassifies government documents, using the freedom of information act. Recently his group accessed documents indicating that the Reagan administration was aware of human rights abuses in El Salvador in the 1980s. During that time, the administration was required to report to Congress about conditions in El Salvador, with the understanding that if the Salvadorian military did not improve it's human rights record, the U.S. would no longer send aid there. Last week, the U.N.'s Commission on the Truth issued it's report (based on these declassified documents) on abuses by the Salvadorian military, implicating them in the murders of Archbishop Romero, four American churchworkers, and six Jesuit priests. Congress is soon to begin hearings on U.S. policy in El Salvador during the civil war.
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