[Cispes-update] Solidarity with Salvadoran Political Prisoners - Updates and Action!

Thu Jul 12 20:23:29 UTC 2007

CISPES Friends – 

The situation in El Salvador remains serious, with the 13 protestors still
in prison and increased police harassment and threats toward movement
organizers.  We have written a statement of solidarity with the political
prisoners, which you can find below.  We’re also forwarding on an article
about the terrorism charges from Upsidedownworld.org.  And you can also hear
more about the case in a 10 minute piece on Between the Lines, at
http://www.btlonline.org/btlseg2072007.html.

We are working with other solidarity groups on keeping up the pressure: we
had a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador in El Salvador yesterday demanding
that he clarify that the U.S. does not want peaceful protestors tried as
terrorists; we are working on a Dear Colleague letter from Congressional
Reps to the U.S. Ambassador; and are calling for continued pressure on the
Salvadoran government to drop the charges.  If you haven’t already sent
faxes of support, go to our web page for sample letters and fax number.  And
look for information about more ways to participate next week, including a
national call-in day.  And, if you are near Boston, join us at a protest
action at the Salvadoran Consulate on Monday, July 30 – click here
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=
62>  for more info. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

CISPES Declares its Solidarity with the Salvadoran Political Prisoners

July 12, 2007

We, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
publicly express our extreme concern regarding the detainment of the 13
political prisoners who were captured on July 2, 2007, in Suchitoto, and our
solidarity with these prisoners and all of the compañeros and compañeras
working for social justice in El Salvador. The political prisoners are
community leaders and CRIPDES members, Marta Lorena Araujo Martinez, Manuel
Antonio Rodriguez, Rosa Maria Centeno, Hector Ventura, Maria Aydee Chicas,
Sandra Guatemala, Jose Ever Fuentes, Patricio Valladares, Clemente Guevara,
Santos Noel Macia, Marta Yanira Mendez, Beatriz Eugenia Nuila and Vicente
Vasquez. 

We have learned that on July 2, 2007, 14 people peacefully protesting the
privatization of water were brutally and unjustly captured by the Salvadoran
National Civilian Police, and their riot-squad unit. We are distressed that
the protesters’ right to peaceful assembly and organization was so
flagrantly denied, and that their demands were violently silenced. We are
outraged that 13 prisoners are being “preventatively” imprisoned for a
period of three months on charges of “terrorism.” We support their rejection
of the privatization of water in El Salvador, and especially their right to
organize and express these beliefs. We are alarmed that President Saca is
using a newly created, so-called “anti-terrorism” law to equate peaceful
assembly and opposition to government policies with terrorism, and that
dissenting voices in El Salvador are being subjectively silenced and
imprisoned.

We are reminded of the events of May 12, 2007, when 25 persons were arrested
in relation to their involvement in a protest against a law sponsored by the
right-wing that effectively equates their defending their means of
livelihood—the informal sale of goods—with terrorism.  As four of those
arrested are vendors affiliated with a national vendors’ organization we see
these arrests as being politically motivated.  This alarming trend pursued
by President Saca and his government is clearly continuing with the 13
political arrests in Suchitoto.

Regrettably, the U.S. government is supporting and aggressively encouraging
the “anti-terrorism” and “anti-organized crime” laws, which effectively
serve as government instruments of repression. As such, we are actively
working within our own country to disseminate this information and expose
the tyranny of President Saca and the Salvadoran government. We will also
work with the Salvadoran population in the United States to oppose the
injustice that has transpired in El Salvador. In collaboration with other
organizations in the United States, we are currently educating members of
our Congress about the state-sponsored repression of movement organizing in
El Salvador, as evidenced by the Suchitoto arrests and the targeting of
street vendors with terrorism charges on May 12, 2007. We plan to take our
message to the Salvadoran consulates in the United States and to demand the
release of all political prisoners in El Salvador, and an immediate
dismissal of the terrorism and organized crime charges.

In the meantime, we are closely monitoring all details of the Suchitoto case
and are calling for respect for the physical integrity of all political
prisoners. We will continue organizing in solidarity with the political
prisoners and the social movement in El Salvador until there is justice in
this matter, and until the U.S. and Salvadoran governments realize they will
not stop organized resistance with imprisonment and repression.   

Free the political prisoners!  Stop the repression!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/812/1/

Judge in El Salvador: Terrorism Charges Stand Against Suchitoto 13 

Written by Jason Wallach    

Thursday, 12 July 2007 

ImageCharges of “Acts of Terrorism” will stand against thirteen of fourteen
defendants arrested at a July 2nd protest against water privatization in
Suchitoto, a judge ruled Saturday. Judge Ana Lucila Fuentes de Paz of the
Special Tribunal of San Salvador denied bail for the accused, sending them
to an estimated 90 days in jail while prosecutors gather evidence for trial.

Fuentes de Paz threw out “Public Disorder” and “Illicit Association” charges
against all the defendants, arguing that prosecutors had failed to generate
proof in those cases. A fourteenth defendant, Facundo García, had all
charges dropped. Judge Fuentes said García had only sought to aid other
arrestees, and that act did not constitute a crime. García remains
hospitalized as a result of blows suffered at the hands of National Civil
Police during his arrest.

Charges remained, however, for Lorena Martinez and Rosa Maria Centeno,
President and Vice-president of the well-known CRIPDES-CORDES community
development organization. The two were led out of the Special Tribunal with
Martinez’ right wrist handcuffed to Centeno’s left. They chanted, “We are
not terrorists, we are citizens!” in unison as they were muscled into
waiting police vehicles. 

“When we look at the video, we see that there are no acts of terrorism. We
believe that these detentions are arbitrary,” defense attorney Raúl Antonio
López told the left-leaning Diario CoLatino newspaper. The paper reported
that defense attorney Karla Albanés was stunned by the Judge’s decision in
the case. Albanés noted the severe lack of evidence presented by prosecutors
against defendants. Both members of the defense team vowed to  appeal the
judge’s decision.

Before the hearing on Saturday morning, thousands of supporters of the
arrestees marched on the building where charges were aired. The march
stretched the entire half-mile from El Salvador del Mundo park to the
upscale Galerias shopping mall along the Paseo Escalón Boulevard, before
terminating at the plaza in front of the Special Tribunal. Participants
carried signs that said, “Freedom for the 14 political prisoners.” Organized
by the opposition FMLN political party, marchers argued that the “Acts of
Terrorism” charges were aimed at silencing public dissent toward President
Antonio Saca’s controversial national “decentralization” policy.  

Many marchers expressed concern that the 14 detainees were El Salvador’s
first political prisoners since Peace Accords were signed in 1992. Most
agreed that the malicious application of the Anti-terrorism Law against
protesters could signal a dangerous retrogression to the past, when the
State openly targeted opposition political expression. They said that the
July 2 protest had been peaceful until police shot tear gas and rubber
bullets as they violently dislodged protesters who had blocked streets. 

A July 4 statement signed by more than 60 Salvadoran social organizations
demanded an immediate release of all detainees. Barring that, they exhorted
respect for the physical integrity of the accused by police and other state
authorities. The demands were made in the wake of claims that police had
threatened to throw some arrestees out of a transport helicopter as it hung
over Lake Suchitoto on July 2. Such threats resonate deeply here, sparking
memories of human rights atrocities of the 1980’s. A 1993 UN report found
that the Salvadoran Army and National Guard were responsible for 95% of
human rights violations committed during the 1980-1992 period of civil
conflict.

Meanwhile, US solidarity organizations working with a wide range of
Salvadoran groups demanded guarantees for the physical integrity of the
arrestees, and for their immediate release. The Committee in Solidarity with
the People of El Salvador (CISPES) added a call for the repeal of the
Anti-terrorism Law. 

"If the US Government publicly supported the approval of the Anti-terrorism
Law, as they did, then they should denounce it when it is being applied for
political purposes," said Krista Hanson, Program Director for the New
York-based CISPES.
Representatives from the US-El Salvador Sister Cities organization announced
that efforts to launch a “Dear Colleague” letter in the US Congress had
netted two co-sponsors. They said final wording of the letter was finished
and that the group would start searching for Congressional co-signers in the
coming weeks.

The US groups have launched a joint fax-in campaign to call for the freedom
of the detainees and to draw attention to what they argue is a
politically-motivated application of the Anti-terrorism Law. Representatives
of the groups (including the author of this report) met with US Ambassador
to El Salvador, Charles Glazer on July 11. At the meeting, they asked the
Ambassador for a public pronouncement about the US Embassy’s position
regarding the July 2 protest and its aftermath.

-----------

CISPES

Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

212-465-8115

www.cispes.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.people-link.net/pipermail/cispes-update/attachments/20070712/6e6ed826/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 39027 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.people-link.net/pipermail/cispes-update/attachments/20070712/6e6ed826/attachment-0001.jpeg 