[Cispes-Alert] Week of Action to Protest Anti-Terrorist Law and Repression in El Salvador

Thu Oct 4 12:25:49 EDT 2007

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October 4, 2007

CISPES ACTION ALERT

Week of Action to Protest Anti-Terrorist Law and Repression in El Salvador

October 6 -13 marks an international solidarity week of action to demand
that terrorist charges against Salvadoran protestors be dropped. On July 2,
fourteen people were arrested in Suchitoto, El Salvador for taking part in a
protest against water privatization. Police brutality against the peaceful
demonstration and the arrests of 14 of them produced international outrage,
and ultimately this pressure forced the Salvadoran government to temporarily
release the detainees. Nevertheless, protestors continue to be charged under
the "anti-terrorism" law and could face up to 60 years in prison. This
draconian law that criminalizes different forms of public protest as acts of
terrorism is being used to silence the social movement in El Salvador,
criminalizing acts that do not in any way constitute terrorism!

In El Salvador different sectors continue to resist the anti-terrorism law,
claiming that the way it is being employed, both against the social movement
in general and against the 14 demonstrators in particular, represents a step
back from the 1992 Peace Accords. Three judges declared last week that the
law is "too confusing" and, more importantly, declared that "simple street
protests are not acts of terrorism".  Despite the repression against the
Salvadoran social movement, people continue to organize against
privatization and economic and political repression.  

The trial of the Suchitoto protesters was scheduled for the first week of
October but has been delayed for six months while the prosecutors build
their "terrorism" case.  However, it is obvious that the trial was delayed
for lack of evidence, since those arrested were in the streets to voice
their opinion against water privatization.   

The United States government has a responsibility to speak out against the
way the anti-terrorism law is targeting and criminalizing the social
movement. However, the government has consistently supported the
implementation of the law, while bolstering El Salvador's repressive
National Civil Police through the US-sponsored International Law Enforcement
Academy (ILEA). Your action is critical in defending the right to organize,
in solidarity with those who are struggling to keep water accessible and
public in El Salvador (see below)! 

Community leaders and non-violent protestors are not terrorists.   

Take Action!

1. Organize an action at the Salvadoran Consulate in your city! Distribute
this action alert and the call-in script on the back side.

2. Call the State Department and demand that the United States government
hold the Salvadoran government accountable for these acts.  Contact Jeremy
Cornforth at the U.S. State Department's El Salvador desk at 202-647-3505.
See below for sample script.

3. Call the Salvadoran Ambassador to the U.S. and let him know that you hold
the Salvadoran government accountable for these acts. Contact Rene de Leon
at 202-265-9671 in the Salvadoran Embassy and demand that terrorist charges
against the Suchitoto protestors are dropped. 

Call Script for El Salvador Desk at the U.S. State Department

You can use the following "script" to talk to Mr. Cornforth.  If at any
point you get cut off, be sure to ask the final question - "will you call
the ambassador and assure that he calls for the terrorism charges be
dropped?"

1)      I'm calling because I am very concerned about the July 2 arrests of
the people protesting water privatization in Suchitoto, El Salvador.

2)      The Salvadoran police violently captured community leaders -
shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at close range - and local community
members and is now charging them with terrorism.

3)      The Salvadoran government's disproportionate reaction raises serious
concerns about human rights and the freedom of organization and expression.

4)      The U.S. government has publicly supported the Salvadoran
government, including supporting the passage of the anti-terrorism law last
September.

5)      It is extremely important that the U.S. stand up for human rights
everywhere and not let protest be criminalized in the name of a so-called
fight against terrorism.

6)      Will you call Ambassador Rene de Leon and tell him to call for the
terrorism charges to be dropped and the protestors to be freed?

More background information about Suchitoto Arrests can be found at
<http://www.cispes.org/> www.cispes.org or www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org
<http://www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org/> 

watch the video of the recent Consulate Action in Boston!
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=257&Itemid=
29>
http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=257&Itemid=2
9

* Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) and
U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities *

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C 2007 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
CISPES National Office | ph. 202-521-2510 | 1525 Newton St. NW, Wash. DC
20010 | cispes at cispes.org

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