Khthon documents mass graves, atrocity crimes, and forensic evidence from conflict zones worldwide. Our work is strictly humanitarian and apolitical.
This site may contain imagery and descriptions of deceased individuals, violent injuries, and human remains gathered in the course of active investigations. Content is presented for accountability and documentation purposes only.
Khthon documents mass graves, atrocity crimes, and forensic evidence from conflict zones worldwide. Our work is strictly humanitarian and apolitical.
This site may contain imagery and descriptions of deceased individuals, violent injuries, and human remains gathered in the course of active investigations.
Country / Region Overview
El Salvador's civil war (1980–1992) left an enduring landscape of mass graves across this small Central American nation.
The armed conflict between the Salvadoran military and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) claimed around 75,000 lives. Counterinsurgency campaigns targeted entire villages, resulting in massacres such as El Mozote (1981), where more than 800 civilians were executed by the Atlacatl Battalion and buried in communal pits beneath houses, fields, and churches. Across the countryside, shallow burials and ravine disposals became common, concealing evidence of atrocities carried out by both the army and paramilitary death squads.
"El Salvador spans two eras of mass grave creation — wartime massacres and modern institutional concealment."
— Khthon Field Assessment
Excavations have been pursued by coalitions of survivors, NGOs, and international forensic teams such as the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), whose work at El Mozote set precedents for international accountability. The UN Truth Commission for El Salvador documented hundreds of sites, though many remain unexcavated due to political resistance. These graves are not isolated to history: the echoes of wartime violence continue to shape how the state and its institutions manage bodies today.
In the present day, the state's carceral policies have generated new burial concerns. The CECOT mega-prison, centerpiece of President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on gangs, has come under scrutiny for conditions that produce unexplained deaths and unacknowledged burials. Monitoring the handling of bodies in closed institutions like CECOT links directly back to Khthon's workflow: combining SOCMINT and HUMINT from survivors and families with GEOINT tools to detect clandestine burials at the intersection of repression, state secrecy, and mass incarceration.
1980
Civil war begins — Archbishop Romero assassinated
Archbishop Óscar Romero is shot dead while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980 — attributed to right-wing death squads. His death marks the formal outbreak of armed conflict between the FMLN and the U.S.-backed Salvadoran military.
1981
El Mozote massacre
The Atlacatl Battalion kills more than 800 civilians — including hundreds of children — in the village of El Mozote, Morazán. Bodies are buried in communal pits beneath houses and the local church. The massacre is denied by the Salvadoran and U.S. governments for over a decade.
1980–1992
Widespread atrocities by death squads and military
Paramilitary death squads, operating with military protection, conduct thousands of targeted killings of students, union members, clergy, and peasants. Shallow graves and riverine disposals become systematic across Morazán, Chalatenango, and Cabañas departments.
1992
Chapultepec Peace Accords
Peace is signed in Mexico City, formally ending twelve years of war. A UN Truth Commission is established to investigate atrocities. It documents over 22,000 acts of violence, attributes 85% to military and paramilitary forces, and calls for accountability — largely ignored by subsequent governments.
1992–Present
EAAF forensic investigations at El Mozote
The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team begins excavations at El Mozote, recovering hundreds of sets of skeletal remains. Their work establishes forensic standards for mass grave investigation in Latin America and provides critical legal evidence for accountability proceedings.
2016
Amnesty Law struck down
El Salvador's Supreme Court strikes down the 1993 Amnesty Law that had shielded military officers from prosecution for wartime atrocities. Cases involving El Mozote and other massacres are reopened.
2022
State of Exception declared — mass gang arrests
President Bukele declares a state of exception following gang violence, suspending constitutional rights. Over 70,000 people are arrested in months. Reports emerge of deaths in custody, overcrowding, and unacknowledged burials — generating new documentation concerns for Khthon.
2023–Present
CECOT opens — ongoing monitoring
The Center for Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) opens in Tecoluca — capacity 40,000+. Unexplained deaths, restricted access, and absence of public records make it an active site of concern. Khthon monitors via SOCMINT, HUMINT, and satellite imagery of the facility.
Browse Khthon's full catalogue of country and case reports across seven global regions, or get involved with our ongoing investigations.
