[Cispes-update] Pastor and Community Leader Murdered, Social Movement Demands Justice

[CISPES National Office]

Pastor and Community Leader Murdered, Social Movement Demands Justice 

CISPES El Salvador Update

November 8, 2006

 

            On Friday, November 4 Francisco Carrillo and Jesus de Carrillo,
two religious leaders, human rights advocates, and activists in a local
community volunteer rescue program, were shot and killed outside their
church in the town of Jayaque, La Libertad.  Francisco was a pastor in the
Lutheran church; as he was locking up after Friday's service, the assailants
approached on bicycles and shot him and then his wife, who was waiting in a
nearby car.  The Carrillos were known for being vocal community activists
and had recently received death threats for their work. 

 

            These murders are striking in the wake of other apparently
politically motivated assassinations, raising fears of a resurgence of death
squad activity in El Salvador.  Not only was the couple politically active,
but the assailants easily rode away on bicycles without covering their faces
to try to hide their identity.  Some witnesses say they were local gang
members, although there is no apparent motive for the murder and there was
no attempted robbery.  The police have been very slow to investigate the
murders, even showing up at the crime scene well after the bodies were
found.  There have been a number of well-publicized, similar killings in the
past five months: the elderly parents of Mariposa Manzanares, a former FMLN
leader, who were murdered in July; the Montoyas, another politically active
couple murdered in August; and the progressive Catholic priest Antonio
Romero, murdered in September.

 

            The reactions to the murders have been of grief and anger.
Lutheran Reverend Roberto Pineda, a member of the Popular Social Bloc, said
in a statement the following day that "these murders are the result of the
right wing's desperation as they are faced with growing mass protest....
They are worried about the social crisis, about the erosion of their power
and they want to maintain their domination through fear and terror.  But we
will not be scared."

 

            The Lutheran church and other members of the Jayaque community
are calling for the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the attorney
general's office to do an immediate investigation into the case, and are
also denouncing the murders to the office of the Human Rights Ombudswoman.
Given the PNC's extremely slow response to the calls for investigations into
the other five murders, religious groups and BPS leaders are pushing for
answers from the police investigation within two weeks.

 

More Criticism of Saca's Extended Anti-Crime Plans

            

            Meanwhile, President Tony Saca and Interior Minister Rene
Figueroa continue moving forward with their numerous proposals to crack down
on crime, including pushing for a U.S.-backed "anti-organized crime" law and
the creation of a 14 member National Commission on Security.  The proposed
legislation includes things like the creation of special, secretive
tribunals for "expedited" trials of those with suspected links to "organized
crime."  Judges came out this week criticizing the legislation, especially
the sections creating the special tribunals and expanding the criteria for
admissible evidence.  The latter would give legitimacy to what is being
called "third-hand evidence", such as the testimony of witnesses who claim
to have overheard conversations related to the trial.  Judges have also
criticized Saca's attempt to subvert the current legal system by replacing
certain judges and creating harsher and more secretive court processes.

            

            Saca continues to move forward with these ideas despite all the
evidence showing that tough-on-crime policies have actually worsened the
situation of crime.  A recent study by the Central America Coalition for the
Prevention of Youth Violence details how the three Central American nations
with so-called "Mano Dura" policies - El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras -
all have increased rates of violent crime, while Nicaragua and Costa Rica,
which have both prioritized social spending, crime prevention and youth
rights, are seeing much lower crime rates.  El Salvador has a murder rate
that is double the average for Latin America and seven times higher that of
Nicaragua.

 

Ortega Victory gives Hope to Salvadoran Left  

 

FMLN and social movement leaders congratulated Sandinista leader Daniel
Ortega for his victory in Sunday's Nicaraguan presidential elections,
praising the Nicaraguan people for voting for a candidate who had been
thoroughly demonized by the U.S. government during the lead-up to the
elections.  The State Department and right-wing U.S. Congressional
Representatives used similar tactics as those employed in the 2004
Salvadoran elections, repeatedly denouncing Ortega and threatening to cut
off USAID funding should he win.  They also threatened to cut the flow of
remittances, a tactic which successfully instilled fear in many Salvadoran
voters.  In Nicaragua, a fractured right-wing helped Ortega, but voters also
chose to defy the U.S. intervention.  Though many remain unsure of what
direction Ortega's social policy will go, he joins the ranks of other
left-of-center presidents who have been recently elected in Latin America,
breaking the conservative stranglehold on Central America's executive
branches.    

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.people-link.net/pipermail/cispes-update/attachments/20061108/40a61653/attachment.html