The Salvadoran Association of Torture Survivors (ASST) is a volunteer group of 30 people from El Salvador, most of whom suffered torture at the hands of paramilitary groups supported by the Salvadoran government in the civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. The group’s purpose is to seek three things: learn the truth about human rights violations during the civil war; demand justice from the Salvadoran government for the crimes committed; and seek moral, material, and social reparations for the human rights violations suffered.

With the grant, ASST will support a team of three torture survivors, who work as volunteers, in their project, Know the Truth. This project will research and document human rights abuses during the civil war that will be summarized in a multi-media report at the end of the project. The report will appear in a museum in Santa Tecla, and will be submitted to relevant governmental bodies and used by the survivors as a basis to demand greater psychosocial reparations for the injustices done.

ASST will also convene participatory workshops with 20-25 survivors of torture and former political prisoners in the departments of Santa Ana, San Miguel, and San Salvador over the course of five months. These workshops, aimed at psychosocial reparation, will offer personalized medical attention to the participants as well, given the psychological effects of their experiences.