[cispes-ERN] ALERT: Wave of Repression continues in El Salvador with Death Squad-style Murders

[CISPES National Office]

C         I         S         P         E         S

A C T I O N   A L E R T

 

 August 29, 2006 

 

Wave of Repression continues in El Salvador with 

Death Squad-style Murders of FMLN Leaders

* Salvadoran Movement calls for international pressure for a timely and
thorough investigation*

 

        Alex Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya, two well-known
FMLN leaders, were found dead last Wednesday in the municipality of
Coatepeque, department of Santa Ana.  The husband and wife were traveling in
their vehicle when they were intercepted by another vehicle.  They were then
forced to lay face down on the ground, each shot with a single bullet to the
head, and abandoned in a nearby alley.  Alex Flores Montoya was a teacher in
two of the local public schools, and as an FMLN activist he served as the
local FMLN board’s adjunct coordinator and ran for municipal council with
the FMLN in the March 2006 elections.  Mercedes Peñate de Montoya was also a
recognized FMLN activist and former candidate to the FMLN municipal council
in the March 2000 elections.

The FMLN denounced the death squad-style killings and is demanding a prompt
and thorough investigation by the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the
Attorney General’s Office (FGR).  Luis Corvera, FMLN coordinator for the
department of Santa Ana, said last Friday that the crime “cannot be left in
impunity.”  Corvera expressed the concerns of many Salvadorans saying that
the murders are most likely political because the way in which the Montoyas
were killed is typical of the Salvadoran death squads of the 1980’s.

Political violence in El Salvador has been escalating since the violence of
July 5th, when police attacked a student protest against the rising cost of
bus fare and two police officers were killed.  That night the PNC illegally
raided the union federation CSTS and tortured and illegaly detened union
leader Daniel Ernesto Morales on July 5th, then on July 17th SETA (the water
worker’s union) received a death threat signed by a supposed death squad
group.  In recent weeks, two “social-cleansing” death squads have reemerged
in the western part of the country, and last Thursday the Salvadoran Army,
spurred on by the ARENA rhetoric that has been calling the FMLN and its
supporters “terrorists,” illegally occupied a rural organized community in
San Vicente claiming they were looking for weapons.  Meanwhile, nothing has
been done in the investigation of the recent brutal murder of FMLN leader
“Mariposa” Marina Manzanares’ parents in Suchitoto on July 1st, and the
government has done nothing to address the evidence of death squad-like
groups operating from within the PNC. (For details about the protest and
violence, go to
http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques_-_Action_Alerts/july5.html; and
http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates_and_Analysis/index.html).

In the context of this escalating repression, the FMLN and Salvadoran social
movement are calling for international solidarity to pressure the Attorney
General’s office for a prompt and thorough investigation into the murders.
Join us in demanding an end to the violence and respect for the right to
organize in El Salvador – the social movement and international solidarity
demand justice, not impunity, for the perpetrators of political repression!

 

TAKE ACTION!

 

1.    Write to the Salvadoran Attorney General and demand that the office
carry out a prompt and thorough investigation into both the most recent
Montoyas assassination and the July 1st brutal murder of the Manzanares.
(see below for sample fax) 

            Sr. Félix Garrid Safie P., Fiscal General de La República de El
Salvador -Fax: 011(503)2249 - 8607 or e-mail to  <mailto:fgsafie at fgr.gob.sv>
fgsafie at fgr.gob.sv.  Send a copy of your message and any reply to Krista
Hanson at the CISPES National Office: krista(at)cispes.org
<mailto:krista at cispes.org> 

 

2.                  Call your Congressional Representative to inform them of
the continued political repression in El Salvador and ask that she or he
follow up on the recent Dear Colleague letter that called on the U.S. State
Department to investigate the Salvadoran police’s respect for human rights –
the Capitol Hill switchboard is 202-224-3121.  The letter, including the
list of signers, is on-line <mailto:>  at
http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates_and_Analysis/congress_letter_ESviolenc
e.html.

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Fax:

 

Para: Sr. Félix Garrid Safie

Fiscal General de la República de El Salvador

Presente

011-503-2249 - 8607

 

29 de Agosto de 2006

Estimado Sr. Félix Garrid Safie,

 

Le escribo para expresarle mi grave preocupación sobre los asesinatos de
Alex Flores Montoya y Mercedes Peñate de Montoya el pasado Miércoles, 23 de
Agosto por horas de la tarde.  Los esposos, quienes eran reconocidos líderes
del FMLN, fueron asesinados con un disparo a la cabeza y abandonados en el
caserío San Isidro, jurisdicción de Coatepeque.  Ellos dejan en la orfandad
a sus 3 hijos, de 17, 21 y 25 años de edad.  El asesinato ocurre a unas
cuantas semanas después del brutal asesinato de los esposos Manzanares, el
1ero de Julio en Suchitoto, quienes también militaban en el FMLN.

 

Ambos asesinatos fueron ejecutados en un estilo propio a los Escuadrones de
la Muerte, grupos armados clandestinos que funcionaron con impunidad durante
la guerra en El Salvador.  El hecho que cada vez es más y más frecuente este
estilo de asesinato, junto con el reaparecimiento de grupos de limpieza
social como la Sombra Negra y el Comando Central Maximiliano Hernández
Martínez, y denuncias de grupos de exterminio dentro de la Policía Nacional
Civil, apunta a un peligroso retroceso en el respeto a los derechos humanos
en El Salvador.  Todo ello es aún más alarmante cuando la represión política
va en aumento y las ejecuciones parecieran ser deliberadamente en contra de
activistas políticos de izquierda.

 

Por lo tanto, le pido que la Fiscalía General de la República efectúe una
pronta y profunda investigación de estos casos y que por ningún motivo
queden en la impunidad.  Además, la Fiscalía General de la República deberá
investigar los móviles políticos detrás de estos asesinatos y no
descartarlos de antemano como suele hacer.  Estaré al tanto del desarrollo
de la investigación, así como el posterior enjuiciamiento de los culpables,
y mantendré mis congresistas informados sobre la represión política en El
Salvador.

 

Atentamente,

 

_______________ 

 

 

 

English version of sample fax (send Spanish version)

 

To: Mr. Félix Garrid Safie

Attorney General of the Republic of El Salvador

011-503-2249 - 8607

August 29, 2006

 

Dear Mr. Félix Garrid Safie,

 

I write you to express my grave concern with regards to the murders of Alex
Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya this past Wednesday, August
23rd.  The couple, both of whom were recognized FMLN leaders, were killed
with a single shot to the head and abandoned in the neighborhood of San
Isidro, in the municipality of Coatepeque.  They leave behind their 3
children, who are 17, 21 and 25 years old.  These killings come just weeks
after the brutal assassination on July 1st of the Manzanares, both of whom
were also militants in the FMLN.

 

Both murders were carried out in the style of the death squads, armed
clandestine groups that operated with impunity during the war in El
Salvador.  The fact that this type of murder is more and more frequent, as
well as the resurgence of social cleansing groups like the Sombra Negra and
the Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez Central Commando and the denouncements of
extermination groups within the ranks of the National Civilian Police, all
point to a dangerous setback in the respect for human rights in El Salvador.
All of this is even more alarming when political repression in on the rise
and these executions appear to be deliberately targeting political activists
on the left.

 

Because of this, I ask the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic carry
out a prompt and thorough investigation into these cases and that they are
not left in impunity for any reason.  Furthermore, the Attorney General’s
Office should investigate the political motives behind these killings and
not discard them a priori as is usual the case.  I will be following the
development of the investigations, as well as the subsequent judicial case
against those responsible, and maintain my congressmen and women informed
about political repression in El Salvador.

 

Sincerely,

 

_______________

 

 

 

Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

130 West 29th St 9th Floor, New York, NY 10001 • 212-465-8115 • FAX:
212-465-8998 • cispes at cispes.org •

 

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