[CISPES-Update] CISPES Supports Human Rights Defender in Face of Death Threats

Mon Jan 25 16:28:02 EST 2010

CISPES Supports Human Rights Defender in Face of Death Threats 

CISPES <http://www.cispes.org/>  update

January 25, 2010

Included in this update:

*	President Funes declares: No mining in El Salvador! 
*	Vigil Honors  <> “Anti-mining Martyrs”
*	State Apologizes for Violence on <>  Anniversary of Peace Accords 
*	Solidarity with Haiti <> 

CISPES would like to express our heartfelt solidarity with El Salvador’s
Human Rights Ombudsman, Oscar Luna, who announced last Thursday, January 21
that he and his family have been receiving death threats. Luna declared that
the threats have been delivered in the name of supposed extermination
groups, demanding that he leave the country within 48 hours so as to not
“obstruct the work of social cleansing” that they are attempting to carry
out against “delinquency.”  The re-emergence of such “social cleansing”
groups was previously denounced by former Human Rights Ombudswoman Beatrice
de Carrillo in 2006.

Oscar Luna has been an outspoken advocate for human rights in El Salvador.
He defended the Suchitoto 13, water privatization protesters who were
charged under the anti-terrorism law and denounced electoral fraud by ARENA
during the 2009 elections. Most recently, he has pushed the Attorney
General’s office to investigate the intellectual authors of the murders of
Marcelo Rivera, Ramiro Rivera and Dora Alicia Sorto Recinos and mobilized
his office to provide protection for environmental activists in Cabañas.
(Read the National Roundtable against Metallic Mining statement
<http://esnomineria.blogspot.com/2010/01/comunicado-de-prensa-energica-conde
na.html>  on these threats.) He has decided not to leave his post, nor to
leave the country. Instead, he is calling on the Attorney General and the
head of the National Civilian Police to investigate and to provide
additional protection for him and his family. 

On January 16, El Salvador celebrated the 18th anniversary of the Peace
Accords, when much of the State’s repressive apparatus was formally
dismantled. However, the re-emergence of death squad structures, and the
continued death threats against and assassinations of social movement
activists, FMLN leaders and human rights defenders, represent a terrifying
roll-back in the struggle for real democracy. CISPES stands with Mr. Luna in
defending his position and in continuing his important work of promoting
human rights in El Salvador and we call on the Attorney General’s office and
the National Civilian Police to do everything within their power to protect
Mr. Luna and all others in the struggle for justice in El Salvador.

President Funes Declares: No mining in El Salvador! 

On Monday, January 11 in Sensuntepeque, Cabañas, President Mauricio Funes
responded directly to a letter presented to him by the National Roundtable
Against Metallic Mining in El Salvador (the Mesa).  He declared, “Here there
is no room for confusion, my government will not authorize any mining
exploitation project
nor will we permit the existence of systematic
disappearances and threats against members of the environmentalist
movement.”   The President vehemently restated his commitment to keep mining
out of El Salvador throughout his comments, insisting that, “No one has
convinced us that there exist forms of mineral extraction, especially
metals, that do not contaminate the environment and affect public health.”
Read more of
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=660&Itemid=
1> Funes’ statement.

The letter presented by the Mesa was signed by over 500 individuals and
organizations, all present at the January 8th vigil for the four murdered
anti-mining activists of Cabañas (see following article).  Within the
letter, signatories demanded a thorough investigation into the intellectual
authors of the assassinations, guaranteed protection for community activists
that continue to receive death threats, and a commitment from the government
to prohibit metallic mining in El Salvador.  These strong statements by the
President are considered the successful result of a series of pressure
tactics organized by the Mesa to garner the Administration’s support for the
anti-mining struggle.

The President, who had taken a position against mining during the campaign
but had not recently addressed the topic, went on to say that he had ordered
the Ministry of Justice and Security as well as the National Civilian Police
(PNC) to investigate the murders.  The Mesa expressed
<http://www.diariocolatino.com/es/20100113/opiniones/75614/>  satisfaction
at Funes’ declarations and urged him to go even further by actively
promoting legislation to ban metallic mining in the Legislative Assembly and
to firmly confront Pacific Rim and Commerce Group’s lawsuits against the
Salvadoran government for alleged violations of the US-Central American Free
Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Vigil Honors “Anti-mining Martyrs”

On Friday, January 8, the community of Trinidad in the department of Cabañas
held a vigil to honor the lives of the four
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=659&Itemid=
1>  anti-mining activists assassinated in 2009. An estimated 600 people,
including community members, supporters from across the country, and
international delegations, came to publicly denounce the murders, demand
justice for the victims and their families, and bring support, morale, and
security to the mourning community of Trinidad. The vigil—which lasted until
the early hours of Saturday, January 9—included an ecumenical service,
music, and declarations of solidarity from national and international
organizations.  The crowd periodically erupted in chants of, “What does
Cabañas want? Justice!” and “Pacific Rim out of Cabañas!” 

To date the Attorney General, a member of the right-wing Nationalist
Republican Alliance (ARENA) party, has maintained that the four murders were
a result of common crime, refusing to investigate political motives and
intellectual authors of the assassinations.  Members of the local
anti-mining movement, who have organized against Pacific Rim’s mining
projects since 2005, have consistently pointed to the gold mining company as
a critical, but deliberately overlooked, aspect of these investigations.
However, other high-level government officials, including Human Rights
Ombudsman Oscar Luna, have called for a thorough investigation into the
political nature of these apparently systematic murders of known anti-mining
movement leaders.

State Apologizes for Violence on Anniversary of Peace Accords 

Saturday, January 16, marked the 18th anniversary of the signing of the
Peace Accords that brought an end to 12 years of civil war in El Salvador.
The Accords, signed in 1992, included a series of agreements and legal
reforms to begin a process of democratization.  They also dissolved many of
the State’s repressive security forces and formalized the Farabundo Martí
National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrilla army as a legal political party.

This year, for the first time since the end of the Civil War, the President
of El Salvador made a public apology on behalf of the government for the
crimes committed by the State during the war.  President Funes acknowledged
that government agents committed “massacres, arbitrary executions, forced
disappearances, torture, sexual abuse, arbitrary detentions and different
acts of repression” against Salvadoran civil society.  Funes asserted that
this public apology was a necessary first step in alleviating pain and
healing the emotional and social wounds left by the war.

During his presidential campaign, Funes promised to work towards full
implementation of the Peace Accords, including State reparations for human
rights abuses.  Since taking office, President Funes has taken concrete
steps towards fulfilling this promise by honoring the martyred
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=638&Itemid=
28>  Jesuit priests and Archbishop Romero, all believed to have been
assassinated by security forces and death squads linked to the State. The
Administration has also created the Commission
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=624&Itemid=
28>  for the Disappeared to locate children separated or taken from their
families during the Civil War. 

The FMLN also held a public event commemorating the Peace Accords, led by
Vice President Salvador Sanchez Cerén. The Vice President apologized on
behalf of the FMLN to the victims of the armed conflict, as the party has
done since 1992.  In his speech, Sanchez Cerén recognized the important
democratic advances that El Salvador has made since 1992, but acknowledged
that there is still important work to be done and reiterating the party’s
commitment to creating a truly participatory democracy.

Solidarity with Haiti

Following the devastating earthquake that took place in Haiti on January 12,
the Funes Administration and the FMLN declared their solidarity with the
people of Haiti.  Funes deployed a team of firefighters to provide support
for search-and-rescue missions and is expected to soon announce additional
aid for reconstruction efforts.  The FMLN recognized the people of Haiti’s
place in history as the only country ever to defeat slavery and form a new
country.  The party declared, “We do not doubt that this same strength will
be that which carries you to overcome this tragedy and set the foundation
for a society in which human development and peace will be a reality.”  The
FMLN is coordinating donations for Haiti and has called on its membership
throughout the world to demonstrate the values of international solidarity
by sending material support to the Haitian people.

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