International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims

The International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims pays tribute to the memory of Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero who was murdered in 1980. It is to acknowledge also the right to the truth in the context of gross violations of human rights and grave breaches of humanitarian law. The purpose of the Day is to:

• honour the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations;
• promote the importance of the right to truth and justice for the relatives of victims of summary executions, enforced disappearance, missing persons, abducted children and torture;
• pay tribute to those who have devoted their lives to, and lost their lives in, the struggle to promote and protect human rights for all; and
• recognise Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador who was assassinated on 24th March 1980, after denouncing violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable populations and defending the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposition to all forms of violence.

Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. Photo: from Archbishop Romero Trust.