A week after the arrest of Roberto D'Aubuisson , the National Guard and the newly reorganized paramilitary Organización Democrática Nacionalista ( ORDEN ) , with the cooperation of the Military of Honduras , carried out a large massacre at the Sumpul River on May 14 , 1980 , in which an estimated 600 civilians were killed , mostly women and children . Escaping villagers were prevented from crossing the river by the Honduran armed forces , " and then killed by Salvadoran troops who fired on them in cold blood . " Over the course of 1980 , the Salvadoran Army and three main security forces ( National Guard , National Police and Treasury Police ) were estimated to have killed 11,895 people , mostly peasants , trade unionists , teachers , students , journalists , human rights advocates , priests , and other prominent demographics among the popular movement . Human rights organizations judged the Salvadoran government to have among the worst human rights records in the hemisphere
a large massacre at the Sumpul River
Sumpul River massacre
Salvadoran Civil War