then, in 2016, on the 35th anniversary of el mozote, the supreme court of el salvador sided with humanlaw. >> the supreme court ruled that the amnesty law was unconstitutional, and this allowed for the opening of some of the cases that had been left into oblivion by the amnesty law. the first of those cases was el mozote. ♪ ♪ >> narrator: ray bonner, now working for "retro report" and "propublica," returned to el salvador to cover the developments. >> the last time i was here, i walked in. ♪ ♪ >> narrator: he visited the scene of the massacre, where people were streaming in to pay tribute at a memorial that had been erected. >> "140 of them children less than 12 years old." (whistles) >> (singing in spanish) (others join in singing) ♪ ♪ >> did you see them killed? >> (speaking spanish) ♪ ♪ >> narrator: bonner tracked down a witness who was going to testify at a preliminary hearing about the massacre. amadeo martinez sanchez was eight years old when salvadoran soldiers killed 24 of his relatives, including his mother and his siblings, the youngest only a year old. >> (speaking spanish)

the first of those casesas el mozote. ♪ ♪ >> narrator: ray bonner, now working for "retro report" andthe last time i was here, i walked in. ♪ ♪ >> narrator: he visited the scene of theassacre, where people were streaming in to pay tribute at a memorial that had been erected. >> "140 of them children less an 12 years old." (whistles) >> (singing in spanish) (others join in singing) ♪ ♪ >> did you see them killed? >> (speaking spanish) ♪ ♪ >> narrator: bonner tracked down a witness who was going to testify at a preliminary hearing about the massacre. amadeo martinez sanchez was eight years old when salvadoran soldiers killed 24 of his relatives, including his mother and his siblings, the youngest only a year old. >> (speaking spanish) ♪ ♪ >> narrator: days later, pre-trial hearings were getting underway in the nearby town of san francisco gotera for more than a dozen former high-ranking military officers. bonner joined "el faro" journalist nelson rauda in the tiny courthouse. >> (speaking spanish) >> we're a country that maybe has some sort of amnesia with our history. ♪ ♪ there are som