[Cispes-Alert] Terrorism charges dropped against 'Suchitoto 13'

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February 13, 2008

Alert update! Terrorism charges dropped against ‘Suchitoto 13’
Despite solidarity victory, activists still face up to 4 years in prison

Para <http://www.tribunahispanausa.com/detallesdelanoticia.php?noticia=3252>
más información en español, haga ‘click’ aqui

Click
<http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=345&Itemid=29>
here to read CISPES press release regarding Congressional letters to
Salvadoran President Saca

El Salvador’s Attorney General last Friday requested that charges of “acts
of terrorism” be dropped against 13 peaceful protesters arrested at a
demonstration against water privatization last July in the town of
Suchitoto. After more than 6 months of investigation into the events of July
2, 2007, the Salvadoran government was unable to substantiate its original
terrorism accusations, which carried a potential sentence of up to 60 years
in prison. The charges fell under the jurisdiction of El Salvador’s 2006
“Special Law Against Acts of Terrorism,” which was championed by the U.S.
Embassy in Sal Salvador. Human rights experts in El Salvador and on the
international level uniformly concluded that the Suchitoto protest was
lawful and denounced the terrorism charges.

Months of domestic and international pressure for the charges to be dropped,
including dozens of letters from U.S. Congressional Representatives and two
national “weeks of action” carried out by U.S. solidarity organizations,
culminated in the February 8 announcement, which was made before a special
anti-terrorism tribunal in San Salvador. In response to grassroots pressure
organized by CISPES and allied solidarity organizations, more than 40
members of Congress signed a letter to Salvadoran President Antonio Saca
last July questioning the application of the anti-terrorism law in the case
of the non-violent Suchitoto protestors. A handful of Congressmen sent
personal letters to the Salvadoran government again last week, reiterating
their concern for the state of human rights in El Salvador and urging
President Saca to respect basic civil liberties, including freedom of
political expression.

The Salvadoran government will now seek to convict the 13 “political
prisoners” of public disorder and aggravated damages as a result of their
participation in last July’s protest. These reduced charges could carry
prison sentences of up to 4 years. Family members of the ‘Suchitoto 13’ are
calling for all charges be dropped, and have undertaken a 3-day march from
Suchitoto to San Salvador to draw continued attention to the case.

The family members and their social movement allies argue that those
arrested at Suchitoto have been targeted not because they committed crimes,
but in response to their opposition to the governing, right-wing ARENA
party’s plan to decentralize the national public water administration. Those
who demonstrated in Suchitoto last summer view this plan as a first step
toward the eventual privatization of the El Salvador’s water system. Amnesty
International concurred with this analysis in a statement released July 18,
2007, stating that it feared the arrests had been made “to prevent future
protest.”

As the ARENA government continues to pursue charges against the protestors
arrested at Suchitoto, a number potentially politically-motivated killings
remain unresolved, including last month’s assassination of Wilber Funes, the
mayor of Allegria who was a member of the FMLN opposition party. Meanwhile,
El Salvador’s National Civilian Police (PNC) continues to receive training
at the U.S. State Department’s International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA),
despite international condemnation of its repressive actions against the
Suchitoto prisoners, among other recent cases. Stay tuned to the CISPES
e-mail list and website in the coming weeks for more ways to help defend
democracy and counter U.S.-backed repression in El Salvador.

For
<http://www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&tas
k=view&id=140&Itemid=2>  a detailed analysis of the latest developments in
the legal case against the Suchitoto 13 (put together by U.S.-El Salvador
Sister Cities) click here.

  




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© 2008 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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