[Cispes-Alert] Take Action to Denounce Political Killings in El Salvador

[CISPES National Office]

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CISPES ACTION ALERT

July 30, 2008

 

Take Action to Denounce Political Killings in El Salvador

Government Officials Fail to Investigate New Wave of Politically Motivated
Assassinations

 

Just six months before the 2009 municipal and legislative elections in El
Salvador, political violence is heating up. Since March 2006 when Alex
Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya, two well-known FMLN leaders,
were found dead in the municipality of Coatepeque, at least 23 leaders of
the social movement and FMLN party have been murdered (see FESPAD
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=440&Itemid=
29>  chart in Spanish here). 2008 is a pre-electoral year and thus has been
particularly violent for organized sectors of the population.  Such
political violence doesn’t contribute to the democratic electoral process
that Salvadoran people desire; rather, it creates a climate of fear that
threatens the upcoming elections.

On June 26, student activist Ángel Martínez Cerón, coordinator of the
January 24 Revolutionary Socialist Student Bloc, was killed in the city of
Santa Ana.  Then on July 2 Holman Riva, an employee of the FMLN’s municipal
government in the municipality of Ilopango, was killed along with his
nephew.  Most recently, 27 year-old Rafaela Hernández Delgado, whose husband
is an FMLN member of the municipal government of San Pablo Tacachico, was
shot dead in a bus.  San Pablo is the same town in which FMLN deputy Gerson
Martinez' security guard was shot to death three months ago.  

Back in January of this year, in one of the most high-profile of such cases,
the mayor of Alegría Wilber Funes was killed alongside municipal employee
Zulma Rivera. The young, popular mayor had planned to run for reelection as
a member of the FMLN party in 2009. Such killings could threaten support for
the FMLN in the 2009 elections in several municipalities as people become
afraid to campaign for the leftist party or support the social movement
because of the concerns about personal security.  In reference to the
several murders that have taken place this pre-electoral year, FMLN deputy
Benito Lara recently stated that “here we have various cases that remain
unresolved, unclear, and it is difficult for us to accept the theory that
these are merely cases of common crime.”  For more information check out the
recent CISPES update
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=439&Itemid=
28> “Political Violence Increases in El Salvador.” 

On top of this, Salvadorans also fear repercussions coming from the US
government should the FMLN win. Back in 2004 – the last time there were
presidential elections – several US officials made declarations denouncing
the FMLN, including Rep. Tom Tancredo who threatened to introduce
legislation to halt remittances sent to El Salvador if the FMLN were to win.
Already this year US officials (including deputy Secretary of State John
Negroponte, who visited El Salvador in June) have declared that the US
government won’t work with governments who have “terrorist ties”, a clear
reference to the right-wing media campaign connecting the FMLN to the
Colombian FARC rebels.  Like the fear caused by political violence, such
declarations could affect the opinion of Salvadoran people preparing to vote
in the 2009 elections. 

In the context of this escalating violence and intervention, CISPES joins
the Salvadoran social movement in calling for international solidarity to
support an electoral process free of both US intervention and political
violence.                               

 

TAKE ACTION!

 

1.      Sign onto CISPES People’s Pledge to Defend the Right to Free & Fair
Elections in El Salvador and accompany the Salvadoran people by standing in
solidarity with them during their struggle for REAL democracy. Go to
www.cispes.org/pledge2009  

 

2. Contact Felix Garrid Safie, Attorney General of El Salvador, by fax at
011(503) 2528-6095or e-mail at fgsafie at fgr.gob.sv and tell him to respect El
Salvador’s democratic process by carrying out a serious investigation of
these political murders.  See below for sample letter.

 

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

 

 SAMPLE LETTER

 

30 de Julio de 2008

 

Señor Fiscal General de la Republica Felix Garrid Safie 

Fax (011 503) 2528-6095

 

Estimado Señor Fiscal General  Felix Garrid Safie,

 

Le escribo con suma preocupación por el alarmante incremento de asesinatos
motivados políticamente que han ocurrido en El Salvador durante este año
pre-electoral de 2008. En los últimos dos años, la represión política contra
los sectores organizados ha alcanzado niveles muy altos.  En los últimos
años han habido un sin numero de arrestos ilegales, desapariciones,
asesinatos de activistas del movimiento social y miembros y líderes del
partido FMLN. 

 

El  caso mas conocido de todos estos asesinatos es el del alcalde del FMLN
Wilmer Funes, en la municipalidad de Alegría, Usulután, quien fue asesinado
junto a la empleada municipal Zulma Rivera. La investigación de este caso
continua sin ser resulto al igual que la gran mayoría de asesinatos
motivados políticamente que viene ocurriendo desde el 2006. 

 

Mas recientemente, Ángel Martínez Cerón, estudiante y activista, fue
asesinato el pasado Junio 26 en la ciudad de Santa Ana, de forma similar.
Martínez Cerón, coordinador del Bloque Estudiantil Socialista Revolucionario
24 de Enero, fue balaceado ocho veces antes que sus asesinos le asestaran el
tiro de gracia en la cabeza. 

 

Este proceder es similar a las acciones paramilitares del gobierno que
ocurrieron durante el conflicto armado en El Salvador, las cuales todavía se
encuentran el la impunidad. Esta impunidad en que se encuentran los casos de
Funes y Martínez Cerón, entre otros, no contribuye a una estabilidad
democrática, ni ayudan a que el proceso electoral promueva la estabilidad
democrática tan deseada por la población de El Salvador. Le hacemos un
urgente llamado a que investigue estos asesinatos motivados políticamente;
un contexto libre de represión y violencia es necesario para que El Salvador
pueda tener un proceso electoral transparente y democrático. 

 

El garantizar la libertad de expresión, y particularmente la expresión
política, es esencial en cualquier democracia.  Ahora, en este año
pre-electoral, es crítico que el gobierno de El Salvador demuestre su
compromiso por la defensa del derecho de todas y todos los salvadoreños y su
expresión política.

 

 

Atentamente,

__________________ (name)

 

__________________ (state, country)

 

 

Translation

 

Dear Attorney General Felix Garrid Safie,

 

I am writing to you extremely concerned about the high number of political
motivated assassinations that have been happening in El Salvador during this
pre-electoral year of 2008.  In the last couple of years there has been a
high amount of political repression against Salvadoran organizers, such as
illegal arrests, disappearances, and murders of leftist activists and FMLN
leaders and members.

 

The most well known of these murders is the assassination of Wilber Funes,
FMLN mayor of Alegria and his co-worker Zulma Rivera on January 9, 2008.
This investigation is still unresolved as well as many others that have
occurred since 2006. 

 

More recently, student activist Ángel Martínez Cerón was killed in a similar
fashion on June 26 in the city of Santa Ana. Martínez Cerón, coordinator of
the January 24 Revolutionary Socialist Student Bloc, was shot eight times
before his assassins delivered a final bullet to the head. 

 

Such murders recall para- military practices that occurred during the armed
conflict of El Salvador, which still remain in impunity. The impunity of the
cases of Funes y Martínez Cerón, among others, do not contribute to the
process of democratic stability desired by the population of El Salvador. We
urge you to fully investigate these cases because in order to have a
transparent democratic process in El Salvador, it must be free of political
repression and violence. 

 

The guarantee of free expression, and particularly political expression, is
essential in a democracy.  Now, in this pre-electoral year, it is critical
that the Salvadoran government demonstrate a commitment to defend the rights
of all Salvadorans who seek to express themselves politically.

 




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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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