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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Dear Friends, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>With the passing of the second anniversary of the murder of Teamsters
activist and compañero of CISPES, Gilberto Soto, there have been renewed calls
for justice in his case. This means the Salvadoran government must reopen
the investigation in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Please see below and sign
onto the petition to Condoleeza Rice and Salvadoran Ambassador Rene Leon.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>CISPES has been active in denouncing Gilberto’s case,
as well as the other recent cases of political murders and intimidation.
For the most recent CISPES update about Impunity in El Salvador around
Gilberto’s and others’ cases, see <strong><b><i><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic'>Teamsters, ILO,
and Women’s Rights Organizations all Criticize ARENA Government for
Inaction in Investigating Crime</span></font></i></b></strong></span></font><strong><b><i><font
color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:black;font-weight:normal;
font-style:italic'> (</span></font></i></b></strong><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=28">http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=28</a>.)
</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial'> To join the CISPES Emergency Response Network to help continue
pressure around this and other cases of increasing repression in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
sign up at <font color=navy><span style='color:navy'><a
href="http://www.cispes.org/">www.cispes.org</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 color=red face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:red;font-weight:bold'>ACTION ALERT: Justice for
Gilberto Soto<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>(Information from this alert comes
from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters)<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-weight:bold'><a
href="http://www.teamsterstakeaction.org/campaign/soto">Labor Activist’s
Killers Must be Found</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>On November 5, 2004, Teamsters Port Division Representative
Gilberto Soto was assassinated in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Usulutan</st1:City>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
Soto, an American citizen, had returned to his native country to meet with
Central American trade union leaders and port drivers, and to document worker
rights violations.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span><u1:p></u1:p></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The murder remains unsolved. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span><u1:p></u1:p></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In a gruesome echo of the Salvadoran government’s
response to the death squad assassinations of the 1980s, the Salvadoran
Interior Minister labeled Soto’s death a “common crime”
within days of his murder—and before the government had launched any
investigation.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span><u1:p></u1:p></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>One Salvadoran official took the assassination seriously and
sprang into action: Beatrice de Carrillo, the ombudsman and director of the
official Salvadoran Human Rights Office. Though her office is mandated by the
Salvadoran constitution, the police refused to give her access to the
investigation files or the officers conducting the investigation. She predicted
that the government would soon make an arrest, call the murder a “crime of
passion” and then after the media attention faded, ultimately drop the
case. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span><u1:p></u1:p></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>That’s exactly what happened. Within a week the
government of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>
arrested Soto’s mother-in-law, claiming that she hoped to collect the
Teamsters’ million-dollar life insurance policy. In fact, Soto’s
policy was for only $50,000 and his children were the beneficiaries, not his
wife. Fourteen months later, Soto’s mother-in-law was acquitted.
The government has continued to obstruct, frustrate and harass Dr. de Carrillo.
She has also received death threats because of her ongoing search for the
truth.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span><u1:p></u1:p></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>On November 15, 2006, the International Labor Organization
(ILO) <a
href="http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb297/pdf/gb-10.pdf">issued
a report</a> that demanding that the Salvadoran government reopen the case file
on Soto’s murder. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span><u1:p></u1:p></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The Teamsters union has joined with labor leaders in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>
to demand that the true killers be brought to justice. If we allow this murder to
go unsolved, labor and human rights leaders will never be safe in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
Tell Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ambassador to the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>
from El Salvador Rene Leon to demand that the Salvadoran government reopen the
investigation into the Gilberto Soto murder and protect and the work of the
Salvadoran Human Rights Ombudsman.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Check out the <a
href="http://www.teamsterstakeaction.org/campaign/soto">Teamsters website for
more information and the sign the petition</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<h2><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Full
Petition Text: <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice<br>
Secretary of State<br>
United States Department of State<br>
<st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">20520</st1:PostalCode> <br>
<br>
His Excellency Rene A. León <br>
Ambassador of El Salvador <br>
Washington, D.C. 20036 <br>
<br>
Dear Secretary Rice and Mr. Ambassador León: <br>
<br>
We call on you to demand that the government of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> immediately reopen the
investigation into Gilberto Soto's assassination and support the work of the
Salvadoran Human Rights Ombudsman. <br>
<br>
Soto, an American citizen and Teamsters Union Representative, was murdered in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Usulutan</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> on November 5, 2004.<br>
<br>
Beatrice de Carrillo, the ombudsman and director of the official Salvadoran
Human Rights Office, has been investigating the murder, but has been met with
constant resistance from the Salvadoran government. She has also received death
threats for investigating the cover-up of Soto's assassination.<br>
<br>
Adding to the international outcry over this case, on November 15, 2006, the
International Labor Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations,
released a report that condemns the Salvadoran government's handling of the
case. <br>
<br>
If we allow this murder to go unsolved, labor and human rights activists will
never be safe in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
We request that you instruct the Salvadoran government to conduct a fair,
objective and transparent investigation, and to take action to end attacks on
and harassment of labor and human rights advocates in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
Furthermore, the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
government and the government of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> must fully support and
protect the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>
<input type=hidden name=text
value="The Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 His Excellency Rene A. León Ambassador of El Salvador Washington, D.C. 20036 Dear Secretary Rice and Mr. Ambassador León: We call on you to demand that the government of El Salvador immediately reopen the investigation into Gilberto Soto's assassination and support the work of the Salvadoran Human Rights Ombudsman. Soto, an American citizen and Teamsters Union Representative, was murdered in Usulutan, El Salvador on November 5, 2004. Beatrice de Carrillo, the ombudsman and director of the official Salvadoran Human Rights Office, has been investigating the murder, but has been met with constant resistance from the Salvadoran government. She has also received death threats for investigating the cover-up of Soto's assassination. ">
<o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Sincerely,<br>
<br>
[Your name] <br>
[Your address] </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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