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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><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 Friends – <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'>The situation in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> remains serious, with
the 13 protestors still in prison and increased police harassment and threats
toward movement organizers. We have written a statement of solidarity
with the political prisoners, which you can find below. We’re also
forwarding on an article about the terrorism charges from Upsidedownworld.org.
And you can also hear more about the case in a 10 minute piece on Between
the Lines, at <a href="http://www.btlonline.org/btlseg2072007.html">http://www.btlonline.org/btlseg2072007.html</a>.<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'>We are working with other solidarity groups on keeping up
the pressure: we had a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador in El Salvador
yesterday demanding that he clarify that the U.S. does not want peaceful
protestors tried as terrorists; we are working on a Dear Colleague letter from
Congressional Reps to the U.S. Ambassador; and are calling for continued
pressure on the Salvadoran government to drop the charges. If you haven’t
already sent faxes of support, go to our web page for sample letters and fax
number. And look for information about more ways to participate next week,
including a national call-in day. And, if you are near <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Boston</st1:City></st1:place>, join us at a protest action at the
Salvadoran Consulate on Monday, July 30 – click <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=62">here</a>
for more info. <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'>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";font-weight:bold'>CISPES Declares its
Solidarity with the Salvadoran Political Prisoners<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>July 12, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>We, the Committee in Solidarity with the
People of El Salvador (CISPES) publicly express our extreme concern regarding
the detainment of the 13 political prisoners who were captured on July 2, <st1:metricconverter
ProductID="2007, in" w:st="on">2007, in</st1:metricconverter> Suchitoto, and
our solidarity with these prisoners and all of the compañeros and compañeras
working for social justice in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. </span></font><font
face="Book Antiqua"><span lang=ES-SV style='font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>The
political prisoners are community leaders and CRIPDES members, Marta Lorena
Araujo Martinez, Manuel Antonio Rodriguez, Rosa Maria Centeno, Hector Ventura,
Maria Aydee Chicas, Sandra Guatemala, Jose Ever Fuentes, Patricio Valladares,
Clemente Guevara, Santos Noel Macia, Marta Yanira Mendez, Beatriz Eugenia Nuila
and Vicente Vasquez. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>We have learned that on July 2, 2007, 14
people peacefully protesting the privatization of water were brutally and
unjustly captured by the Salvadoran National Civilian Police, and their
riot-squad unit. We are distressed that the protesters’ right to peaceful
assembly and organization was so flagrantly denied, and that their demands were
violently silenced. We are outraged that 13 prisoners are being “preventatively”
imprisoned for a period of three months on charges of “terrorism.”
We support their rejection of the privatization of water in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and especially their
right to organize and express these beliefs. We are alarmed that President Saca
is using a newly created, so-called “anti-terrorism” law to equate
peaceful assembly and opposition to government policies with terrorism, and
that dissenting voices in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> are being subjectively silenced and
imprisoned.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>We are reminded of the events of May 12,
2007, when 25 persons were arrested in relation to their involvement in a
protest against a law sponsored by the right-wing that effectively equates
their defending their means of livelihood—the informal sale of
goods—with terrorism. As four of those arrested are vendors
affiliated with a national vendors’ organization we see these arrests as
being politically motivated. This alarming trend pursued by President
Saca and his government is clearly continuing with the 13 political arrests in
Suchitoto.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>Regrettably, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> government is supporting and
aggressively encouraging the “anti-terrorism” and
“anti-organized crime” laws, which effectively serve as government
instruments of repression. As such, we are actively working within our own
country to disseminate this information and expose the tyranny of President
Saca and the Salvadoran government. We will also work with the Salvadoran
population in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>
to oppose the injustice that has transpired in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. In collaboration with
other organizations in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>,
we are currently educating members of our Congress about the state-sponsored
repression of movement organizing in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>, as evidenced by the
Suchitoto arrests and the targeting of street vendors with terrorism charges on
May 12, 2007. We plan to take our message to the Salvadoran consulates in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> and to demand the release of all
political prisoners in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and an immediate dismissal of the
terrorism and organized crime charges.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>In the meantime, we are closely monitoring
all details of the Suchitoto case and are calling for respect for the physical
integrity of all political prisoners. We will continue organizing in solidarity
with the political prisoners and the social movement in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region> until there is justice in this
matter, and until the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
and Salvadoran governments realize they will not stop organized resistance with
imprisonment and repression. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>Free the political prisoners! Stop the
repression!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Book Antiqua"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><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'><a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/812/1/">http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/812/1/</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<td width="94%" height=51 style='width:94.42%;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;
height:38.15pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Judge in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>: Terrorism Charges
Stand Against Suchitoto 13 <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
</td>
<td width="4%" height=51 style='width:4.42%;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;
height:38.15pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<td width="70%" valign=top style='width:70.0%;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=small><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Written by Jason Wallach </span></font></span>
<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
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<td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thursday, 12 July 2007 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
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title=Image border=1 v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><font face=Georgia><span
style='font-family:Georgia'>Charges of “Acts of Terrorism” will
stand against thirteen of fourteen defendants arrested at a July 2nd protest
against water privatization in Suchitoto, a judge ruled Saturday. Judge Ana
Lucila Fuentes de Paz of the Special Tribunal of San Salvador denied bail for
the accused, sending them to an estimated 90 days in jail while prosecutors
gather evidence for trial.</span></font><br>
<font face=Georgia><span style='font-family:Georgia'><br>
Fuentes de Paz threw out “Public Disorder” and “Illicit
Association” charges against all the defendants, arguing that
prosecutors had failed to generate proof in those cases. A fourteenth
defendant, Facundo García, had all charges dropped. Judge Fuentes said García
had only sought to aid other arrestees, and that act did not constitute a
crime. García remains hospitalized as a result of blows suffered at the hands
of National Civil Police during his arrest.<br>
<br>
Charges remained, however, for Lorena Martinez and Rosa Maria Centeno,
President and Vice-president of the well-known CRIPDES-CORDES community
development organization. The two were led out of the Special Tribunal with <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Martinez</st1:City></st1:place>’ right
wrist handcuffed to Centeno’s left. They chanted, “We are not
terrorists, we are citizens!” in unison as they were muscled into
waiting police vehicles. <br>
<br>
“When we look at the video, we see that there are no acts of terrorism.
We believe that these detentions are arbitrary,” defense attorney Raúl
Antonio López told the left-leaning Diario CoLatino newspaper. The paper
reported that defense attorney Karla Albanés was stunned by the Judge’s
decision in the case. Albanés noted the severe lack of evidence presented by
prosecutors against defendants. Both members of the defense team vowed
to appeal the judge’s decision.<br>
<br>
Before the hearing on Saturday morning, thousands of supporters of the
arrestees marched on the building where charges were aired. The march
stretched the entire half-mile from El Salvador del Mundo park to the upscale
Galerias shopping mall along the <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Paseo
Escalón Boulevard</st1:address></st1:Street>, before terminating at the
plaza in front of the Special Tribunal. Participants carried signs that said,
“Freedom for the 14 political prisoners.” Organized by the
opposition FMLN political party, marchers argued that the “Acts of
Terrorism” charges were aimed at silencing public dissent toward
President Antonio Saca’s controversial national
“decentralization” policy. <br>
<br>
Many marchers expressed concern that the 14 detainees were <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s first
political prisoners since Peace Accords were signed in 1992. Most agreed that
the malicious application of the Anti-terrorism Law against protesters could
signal a dangerous retrogression to the past, when the State openly targeted
opposition political expression. They said that the July 2 protest had been
peaceful until police shot tear gas and rubber bullets as they violently
dislodged protesters who had blocked streets. <br>
<br>
A July 4 statement signed by more than 60 Salvadoran social organizations
demanded an immediate release of all detainees. Barring that, they exhorted
respect for the physical integrity of the accused by police and other state
authorities. The demands were made in the wake of claims that police had
threatened to throw some arrestees out of a transport helicopter as it hung
over <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Suchitoto</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> on July 2. Such threats
resonate deeply here, sparking memories of human rights atrocities of the
1980’s. A 1993 UN report found that the Salvadoran Army and National
Guard were responsible for 95% of human rights violations committed during
the 1980-1992 period of civil conflict.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>
solidarity organizations working with a wide range of Salvadoran groups
demanded guarantees for the physical integrity of the arrestees, and for
their immediate release. The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El
Salvador (CISPES) added a call for the repeal of the Anti-terrorism Law. <br>
<br>
"If the US Government publicly supported the approval of the
Anti-terrorism Law, as they did, then they should denounce it when it is
being applied for political purposes," said Krista Hanson, Program
Director for the New York-based CISPES.<br>
Representatives from the US-El Salvador Sister Cities organization announced
that efforts to launch a “Dear Colleague” letter in the US
Congress had netted two co-sponsors. They said final wording of the letter
was finished and that the group would start searching for Congressional
co-signers in the coming weeks.<br>
<br>
The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>
groups have launched a joint fax-in campaign to call for the freedom of the
detainees and to draw attention to what they argue is a politically-motivated
application of the Anti-terrorism Law. Representatives of the groups
(including the author of this report) met with US Ambassador to <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
Charles Glazer on July 11. At the meeting, they asked the Ambassador for a
public pronouncement about the US Embassy’s position regarding the July
2 protest and its aftermath.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
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<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'>-----------<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<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Committee in Solidarity with the People of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>212-465-8115<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>www.cispes.org<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>
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