The Department of Defense today has declassified and
released the September 18, 1996 Office of Inspector General
report The 1985 Zona Rosa Massacre and Its Aftermath. The Zona
Rosa massacre involved the killing of four off-duty U. S. Marine
embassy security guards and two other Americans by urban
guerrilla commandos in San Salvador, El Salvador on June 19,
1985. The declassified version of the report was produced in
the interest of making the existing record available to the
public.
The report's conclusions include:
The Department of Defense did not participate in either
criminal investigation or prosecution of those apprehended in
connection with the massacre;
The Department of Defense did not have any relationship with
any known or suspected perpetrator of the massacre either before
or after the massacre;
After the massacre the Department of Defense played no role
in determining whether any of the known or suspected perpetrators
of the massacre or members of their families would be authorized
entry into the United States; and
The Department of Defense planned and rehearsed a military
retaliation option in response to the massacre. The military
option was never exercised.
The original classified report resulted from a January 1996
request by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the
Department of Defense Inspector General, as well as the
Inspectors General of the Departments of State and Justice and
the Central Intelligence Agency, conduct independent reviews of
the matter. All of the reports have been declassified and are
being publicly released today.
Copies of the DoD report are available to the news media in
the Pentagon's Directorate for Defense Information. Interested
members of the public may view copies of the reports at the
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park
Branch, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Md., telephone (301) 713-
7250.
