They are symbols of the thousands of nonalined. noncombatant civilians of El Salvador who have been tortured. mutilated. slaughtered since the recent civil violence beganthe numbers are now estimated to exceed 11.000 since January 1981. They are symbols of what the eclipse of our human rights policy in Latin America has really meant: a license for those who carry our guns. ammunition. and equipment. to kill at randomto obliterate all political opposition with bullets rather than ballots. In their own dedication to relief work in the weeks before their death. these women symbolize the almost half million refugees from El Salvador that violence has driven from their homes into neighboring countriesviolence that means certain death if we deport them from our shores. They represent the vicious repression of humanitarian workers. church people. journalists. teachers. community organizers that has marked several Latin American countries that enjoy our friendship and foreign assistance. These women represent. above all. the reluctance of the Salvadoran Government to fix blame for the murder of innocent civilians.
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refugees