[cispes-ERN] Update on emergency response to July 5 repression and report on Congressional Dear Colleague letter

[CISPES National Office]

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up! -- cispes)

 

 

CISPES Update on Emergency Response to Repression in El Salvador

August 2, 2006

 

            Over the course of the past week, two important developments
have taken place in relation to the political repression that escalated a
month ago with the July 2 political murders and the July 5 police attack on
student protestors.

 

            First, CISPES and other solidarity organizations organized
pressure on the U.S. Congress to take a stand denouncing the repression.
The result was a Dear Colleague letter, sponsored by Representatives
McGovern and Lantos that denounced both the killing of the two police and
the resulting state actions and repression.  Some of the most important
aspects of the letter are the critique of diplomats' statements (referring
to the U.S. Ambassador) in the days following the violence, and the call on
the State Department to review the actions of the National Civilian Police,
including a questioning of their tactics used in confronting protestors.
The letter got 46 signers, who are listed below.

 

            Secondly, the repression continues in El Salvador.  Early last
week, the water workers' union (SETA) received a death threat that listed
their union, as well as the public health care workers' union (STISSS) and
teachers' union (ANDES), as and signed by a group calling itself "Viva mi
mayor," in reference to the well known and infamous founder of the
Salvadoran death squads and of the ARENA party, Mayor Roberto D'aubisson.
The union held a press conference to publicize the intimidation attempts and
to call on the government to investigate and stop the threats.  SETA has
been very active in organizing a national coalition that brings together
water workers, water users, environmentalists and other community activists
in stopping the government plans to halt water privatization, and union
Secretary General Wilfredo Romero made clear that his union was being
targeted for its resistance to state policy.  

 

            Meanwhile, the calls to stop the intimidation have fallen on the
government's deaf ears, as the Minister of the Interior, Rene Figueroa,
continues throwing out verbal attacks on the opposition in an attempt to
justify the continued repression, most recently claiming there is a link
between the organized student groups and street gangs.  However, both youth
organizations and the SETA union have declared that they will continue with
their organizing to stop the neoliberal policies, with the union committed
to building a national movement against privatization.

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who called and pressured their Representative to sign
onto the Dear Colleague letter!  Below is the list of those that signed on,
followed by the letter itself.  It can be downloaded in pdf format from the
CISPES webpage at
http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates_and_Analysis/congress_letter_ESviolenc
e.html 

 

The following Reps are the ones who signed on:

 

Jim McGovern

Tom Lantos

Jim Oberstar

Eliot Engel

Raul Grijalva

Donald Payne

Barbara Lee

Sherrod Brown (OH)

Diane Watson

Dennis Kucinich

Michael McNulty

Bernie Sanders

Jim McDermott

Barney Frank

Michael Capuano

Jose Serrano

Howard Berman

Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX)

Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Tammy Baldwin

Richard Neal

Ed Markey

Lois Capps

John Lewis

Michael Michaud

Jan Schakowsky

Stephen Lynch

Maurice Hinchey

John Olver

Hilda Solis

Rush Holt

William Delahunt

Steve Rothman

Alcee Hastings (FL)

Dennis Moore

Robert Andrews

Luis Gutierrez

Carolyn Maloney

Robert Brady (PA)

Edolphus Towns

Sam Farr

Danny Davis (IL)

Tim Bishop (NY)

Maxine Waters

Earl Blumenauer

Henry Waxman

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

July 31, 2006 

 

Condoleezza Rice 

Secretary of State 

U.S. Department of State

Washington, D.C. 20520 

 

Dear Secretary Rice,

 

 

 

We write to express deep concern about events that took place in El Salvador
on July 5, 2006. On that day, anti-riot police took up positions before a
march which was organized to protest increases in bus fares, as part of a
larger ongoing demonstration about the cost of living in the country. During
a confrontation between protestors and riot police, many shots were fired at
police officers in what appears to have been an ambush by at least one
gunman. Two officers were killed, and ten other law enforcement personnel
were injured. The police then responded with a major show of force, entering
the nearby National University, searching homes and organizational offices
in the neighborhood, and making a number of arrests. Although the shooting
of the police is inexcusable, some government officials, protest leaders,
opposition politicians, and diplomats have made intemperate and provocative
remarks, which have further ignited passions and could lead to more
violence.

 

Before the events of this month, tensions in El Salvador were already high.
Protests have flared intermittently over the last year as the dialogue
between protestors and the government seems not to have resolved their
differences. As a result, clashes between protestors and the police have
been frequent, and the Ombudsman for Human Rights in El Salvador has found
that the police have used excessive force in a number of cases. The July 5
incident represents a further escalation in the confrontation between the
government and dissident segments of Salvadoran society, and we fear a slow
and painful downward spiral in a country which has not recuperated fully
from a bloody civil war.

 

We believe the State Department should seek to reduce the tension in El
Salvador through condemning the attacks on police officers and calling on
all parties to refrain from making politically charged accusations and
attempting to seek political advantage from these tragic events. All
parties, if they have not already done so, should also immediately and
categorically renounce violence. Finally, our country, through the United
Nations, has made in previous years a substantial investment in the
establishment, training, and outfitting of the National Civilian Police. We
request that you review carefully the actions of the National Civilian
Police over the last year to ensure that the force has been professional,
community-oriented, and observant of internationally recognized human rights
and that it and any of its specialized units, such as the anti-riot police,
have utilized appropriate force when confronting protesters and otherwise
fulfilling their law enforcement duties.

 

We are committed to a peaceful and prosperous El Salvador and would like to
contribute to the resolution of brooding tensions before they worsen.

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

(46 members of Congress)

cc: Thomas Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs

Anne Patterson, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and
Law Enforcement

Barry F. Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor

The Honorable Rene Leon, Ambassador to the United States from El Salvador

 

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