Dear
Friend of CISPES?
If
you are able to join the action at the Chicago Salvadoran Consulate on
Wednesday, January 16 (see below), you would be most welcome. Your name was
forwarded to us since CISPES is not mounting an action in Chicago. We expect there
will also be Action Alerts asking for targeted letters and faxes leading up to
the Anti-Terrorism Law trials.
Free the
Suchitoto 13!
Support
Human Rights in El
Salvador!
Stand Up
For Civil Liberties!
On this
16th Anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords, basic civil
rights in El
Salvador are once again under attack.
Under the guise of fighting terrorism the Salvadoran Patriot Act is
being used to criminalize peaceful social movements. 13 leaders and members of
the Salvadoran social movement have been charged with Acts of Terrorism and
each face up to 60 years in prison for their participation in peaceful
activities against water privatization. As an early February hearing
approaches, our Salvadoran partners have asked us to join them in an
international week of action to demand that all charges be dropped against the
Suchitoto 13. Stand up against this atrocious abuse of basic rights! Join us
in Chicago on
January 16th as we stand in solidarity with our Salvadoran
compañeros to demand justice!
Consular
Protest
Wed Jan
16, 12:00 noon to l:00pm
104
South Michigan Ave
Chicago,
IL
Background:
What
happened on July 2, 2007?
On
July 2, 2007, the National Civilian Police (PNC) and National Riot Police
(UMO) violently repressed a peaceful protest against water privatization in
Suchitoto,
El
Salvador. Four members of the social
organization CRIPDES (Association for the Development of El
Salvador) were arrested as they were
travelling to a peaceful public forum. Over the course of the day,
police arrested 10 more community members and injured dozens more with
beatings, rubber bullets, and tear gas.
13 of the
people arrested continue to be charged with Acts of Terrorism under El
Salvador's Decree #108, "Special Law Against
Acts of Terrorism". The accused were granted only conditional liberty and
Special Tribunal Judge Ana Lucila Fuentes de Paz granted prosecution an extension to present
their evidence.
A Systemic
Trend
Unfortunately, the case of the Suchitoto 13 is just one example of a
more systemic problem. As the social and economic conditions for the majority
of Salvadorans grow more difficult, we are seeing rising levels of dissent
along with growing organizing, mobilization and protest. The response of
the Salvadoran government has been to repress this dissent and criminalize the
right to protest.
·
Felony charges for
"creating a public disorder": A narrowly passed
"Public Disorder" reform increases jail time and the severity of charges (from
a misdemeanor to a felony) for what were once commonplace protest activities.
The reform now also prohibits the conditional release or probation of persons
charged with public disorder.
·
Retroactive
arrests: The September
4th arrest of 8 healthcare trade union members who participated in
a demonstration on July 6th. They were retroactively charged with
disorderly conduct under the new law and faced up to 8 years in prison.
Fortunately, these charges were finally dropped.
·
US visa
discrimination: On September 20th,
a health care unionist who was to come to the United
States was denied entry by the U.S. Embassy.
The tour organized by the the U.S. organization CISPES was to enable her to
speakabout her union's work to stop privatization of the health care system
and the increased political repression in El
Salvador. She was
told by the interviewing officer, it was because "this is a very delicate
situation?you can not travel because we need to protect US
security."
·
Assassination of
Journalist Salvador
Sanchez: On September
20th, journalist Salvador
Sanchez was assassinated.
He was known for his extensive coverage of the arrests and prosecution of the
Suchitoto 13. Authorities are saying his killing was not politically
motivated, but the social movement organizers are asking for a complete
investigation.
On this
anniversary of the 1992 Peace Accords that ended a 12 year civil war, we see
that one of the most important victories of the Salvadoran people ? the
creation of protected space for political _expression_ ? is in jeopardy.
The Salvadoran government´s actions signal an assault on that legacy and
represent an alarming threat to social
stability.
This hits
close to home
In our
own country, it has become painfully obvious that counter-terrorism
legislation must be subject to an extremely delicate balance between ensuring
public security and guaranteeing the most basic tenets of due process and free
political _expression_. The use by any government of this volatile legal
tool as a pretext to criminalize dissent and intimidate citizen _expression_
represents a betrayal of the security and democracy these laws are designed to
protect. In the current case, one need neither be a legal expert nor a
Salvadoran to understand that a dangerous line has been
crossed.
--
"As workers
for social justice, we should not and cannot allow the Salvadoran Government
to continue to arbitrarily violate the human rights of our people?. We
need to maintain the eyes of the world on our country, and speak out with a
chorus of voices for justice and freedom." ~Rosa Maria
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