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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=5 color=navy face=Times><span style='font-size:
18.0pt;color:navy'><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>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=5 face=Times><span
style='font-size:18.0pt'>CISPES Supports Human Rights Defender in Face of Death
Threats <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><img
width=299 height=241 id="_x0000_i1044" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CA9DDB.5D09EA50"><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=4 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:navy;font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;
font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=4 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:navy;font-weight:normal'><a href="http://www.cispes.org/">CISPES</a></span></font></b><font
size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal'> update<o:p></o:p></span></font></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>January
25, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><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><i><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Included in this update:<font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></i></b></p>
<h1><b><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><i><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
italic'><a href="#_President_Funes_declares:"><span lang=ES-SV>President Funes
declares: No mining in El Salvador!</span></a></span></font></i><i><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-style:italic'> <span lang=ES-SV><o:p></o:p></span></span></font></i></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><i><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
italic'><a href="#_Vigil_Honors_“Anti-mining">Vigil Honors “Anti-mining
Martyrs”</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><i><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
italic'><a href="#_State_Apologizes_for">State Apologizes for Violence on
Anniversary of Peace Accords</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></i></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><i><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
italic'><a href="#_Solidarity_with_Haiti">Solidarity with Haiti</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>CISPES would like to express our
heartfelt solidarity with El Salvador’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Oscar
Luna, who announced last Thursday, January 21 that he and his family have been
receiving death threats. Luna declared that the threats have been delivered in
the name of supposed extermination groups, demanding that he leave the country
within 48 hours so as to not “obstruct the work of social
cleansing” that they are attempting to carry out against
“delinquency.” The re-emergence of such “social
cleansing” groups was previously denounced by former Human Rights
Ombudswoman Beatrice de Carrillo in 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Oscar Luna has been an outspoken advocate
for human rights in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. He defended the Suchitoto 13,
water privatization protesters who were charged under the anti-terrorism law
and denounced electoral fraud by ARENA during the 2009 elections. Most
recently, he has pushed the Attorney General’s office to investigate the
intellectual authors of the murders of Marcelo Rivera, Ramiro Rivera and Dora
Alicia Sorto Recinos and mobilized his office to provide protection for
environmental activists in Cabañas. (Read the National Roundtable against
Metallic Mining <a
href="http://esnomineria.blogspot.com/2010/01/comunicado-de-prensa-energica-condena.html">statement
on these threats</a>.) He has decided not to leave his post, nor to leave the
country. Instead, he is calling on the Attorney General and the head of the
National Civilian Police to investigate and to provide additional protection
for him and his family. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On January 16, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> celebrated the 18<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the Peace Accords, when much of the State’s repressive
apparatus was formally dismantled. However, the re-emergence of death squad
structures, and the continued death threats against and assassinations of
social movement activists, FMLN leaders and human rights defenders, represent a
terrifying roll-back in the struggle for real democracy. CISPES stands with Mr.
Luna in defending his position and in continuing his important work of
promoting human rights in <st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region>
and we call on the Attorney General’s office and the National Civilian
Police to do everything within their power to protect Mr. Luna and all others
in the struggle for justice in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_President_Funes_declares:"></a><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>President Funes Declares: No mining in El Salvador! <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On Monday, January 11 in Sensuntepeque,
Cabañas, President Mauricio Funes responded directly to a letter presented to
him by the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region> (the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:City></st1:place>).
He declared, “Here there is no room for confusion, my government will not
authorize any mining exploitation project…nor will we permit the
existence of systematic disappearances and threats against members of the
environmentalist movement.” The President vehemently restated his commitment
to keep mining out of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> throughout his comments, insisting
that, “No one has convinced us that there exist forms of mineral
extraction, especially metals, that do not contaminate the environment and
affect public health.” </span></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span
lang=ES-SV style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Read more of </span></font><font
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=660&Itemid=1"><span
lang=ES-SV>Funes’ statement</span></a></span></font><font
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The letter presented by the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:City></st1:place>
was signed by over 500 individuals and organizations, all present at the
January 8<sup>th</sup> vigil for the four murdered anti-mining activists of
Cabañas (see following article). Within the letter, signatories demanded a
thorough investigation into the intellectual authors of the assassinations,
guaranteed protection for community activists that continue to receive death
threats, and a commitment from the government to prohibit metallic mining in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
These strong statements by the President are considered the successful result
of a series of pressure tactics organized by the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:City></st1:place>
to garner the Administration’s support for the anti-mining struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The President, who had taken a position against
mining during the campaign but had not recently addressed the topic, went on to
say that he had ordered the Ministry of Justice and Security as well as the
National Civilian Police (PNC) to investigate the murders. The <st1:City
w:st="on"><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:City> <a
href="http://www.diariocolatino.com/es/20100113/opiniones/75614/">expressed
satisfaction</a> at Funes’ declarations and urged him to go even further
by actively promoting legislation to ban metallic mining in the Legislative
Assembly and to firmly confront <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Rim</st1:place>
and Commerce Group’s lawsuits against the Salvadoran government for
alleged violations of the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><a name="_Vigil_Honors_“Anti-mining"></a><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Vigil
Honors “Anti-mining Martyrs”<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On Friday, January 8, the community of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinidad</st1:place> in the department of Cabañas held a vigil to
honor the lives of the <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=659&Itemid=1">four
anti-mining activists assassinated in 2009</a>. An estimated 600 people,
including community members, supporters from across the country, and
international delegations, came to publicly denounce the murders, demand
justice for the victims and their families, and bring support, morale, and
security to the mourning community of Trinidad. The vigil—which lasted
until the early hours of Saturday, January 9—included an ecumenical
service, music, and declarations of solidarity from national and international
organizations. The crowd periodically erupted in chants of, “What does
Cabañas want? Justice!” and “<st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Rim</st1:place>
out of Cabañas!” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>To date the Attorney General, a member of
the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party, has maintained
that the four murders were a result of common crime, refusing to investigate
political motives and intellectual authors of the assassinations. Members of
the local anti-mining movement, who have organized against <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific
Rim</st1:place>’s mining projects since 2005, have consistently pointed to
the gold mining company as a critical, but deliberately overlooked, aspect of these
investigations. However, other high-level government officials, including
Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Luna, have called for a thorough investigation
into the political nature of these apparently systematic murders of known
anti-mining movement leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_State_Apologizes_for"></a><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>State Apologizes for Violence
on Anniversary of Peace Accords <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Saturday, January 16, marked the 18<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords that brought an end to 12 years
of civil war in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
The Accords, signed in 1992, included a series of agreements and legal reforms
to begin a process of democratization. They also dissolved many of the
State’s repressive security forces and formalized the Farabundo Martí
National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrilla army as a legal political party.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>This year, for the first time since the
end of the Civil War, the President of El Salvador made a public apology on
behalf of the government for the crimes committed by the State during the war.
President Funes acknowledged that government agents committed “massacres,
arbitrary executions, forced disappearances, torture, sexual abuse, arbitrary
detentions and different acts of repression” against Salvadoran civil
society. Funes asserted that this public apology was a necessary first step in
alleviating pain and healing the emotional and social wounds left by the war.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>During his presidential campaign, Funes
promised to work towards full implementation of the Peace Accords, including State
reparations for human rights abuses. Since taking office, President Funes has
taken concrete steps towards fulfilling this promise by honoring the <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=638&Itemid=28">martyred
Jesuit priests and Archbishop Romero</a>, all believed to have been
assassinated by security forces and death squads linked to the State. The
Administration has also created the <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=624&Itemid=28">Commission
for the Disappeared</a> to locate children separated or taken from their
families during the Civil War. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The FMLN also held a public event
commemorating the Peace Accords, led by Vice President Salvador Sanchez Cerén.
The Vice President apologized on behalf of the FMLN to the victims of the armed
conflict, as the party has done since 1992. In his speech, Sanchez Cerén recognized
the important democratic advances that El Salvador has made since 1992, but acknowledged
that there is still important work to be done and reiterating the party’s
commitment to creating a truly participatory democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_Solidarity_with_Haiti"></a><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Solidarity with <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Haiti</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Following the devastating earthquake that
took place in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Haiti</st1:country-region> on
January 12, the Funes Administration and the FMLN declared their solidarity
with the people of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Haiti</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
Funes deployed a team of firefighters to provide support for search-and-rescue
missions and is expected to soon announce additional aid for reconstruction
efforts. The FMLN recognized the people of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Haiti</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s place in history as
the only country ever to defeat slavery and form a new country. The party declared,
“We do not doubt that this same strength will be that which carries you
to overcome this tragedy and set the foundation for a society in which human
development and peace will be a reality.” The FMLN is coordinating
donations for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Haiti</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and has called on its membership throughout the world to demonstrate the values
of international solidarity by sending material support to the Haitian people.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=navy face=Times><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;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>
<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=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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