Tag Archives: #ComunidadSantaMarta

Libertad! Not guilty verdicts in El Salvador show trial.

by Jim Hodgson

It’s a chaotic scene this noon hour outside the courthouse in Sensuntepeque after the not-guilty verdict today in the case of the “Santa Marta 5.” There will be time for analysis in days and weeks ahead but for the moment, I hope you can share my joy and that of countless good friends–compañerxs de lucha over many years–at news of this verdict.

Thank you to ALL who have accompanied the people of Cabañas in their defense of the water, against the mining project and for the freedom of five compañeros unjustly arrested and made to suffer. International allies will remain attentive.

More information….

International Allies Applaud the Acquittal of the Five Unjustly Jailed Water Defenders in El Salvador

Friday, October 18, 2024, 4 pm ET

“No Crime to Pursue”: International Organizations Applaud Salvadoran Tribunal Ruling that the Five Salvadoran Water Defenders Are Innocent of the False Charges against Them

The five prominent Water Defenders who faced politically-motivated charges are heroes of El Salvador — and they should never have been arrested. 

San Salvador and Washington, D.C. – On October 18, the presiding tribunal in the Salvadoran trial of five leading Salvadoran Water Defenders ruled that all five are completely innocent of the two sham charges of murder and illicit association that were laid against them.

“We call on the Attorney General’s office not to appeal this decision in order to ensure the definite freedom of our compañeros as soon as possible,” the Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES), whose leading members were among those on trial, stated. “Rather than insisting on prolonging this process any further, the Attorney General’s office should apologize to the five and to the community, and should dedicate themselves to investigating the real war crimes, starting with the massacres that were committed against Santa Marta and other communities.” ADES held a press conference outside the courthouse and will release a more detailed statement later today.

In response to the verdict, an international coalition of 14 groups (listed at bottom) led by International Allies against Mining in El Salvador released the following statement: 

The five prominent community leaders known as the “Santa Marta 5,” Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco, and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega, were all instrumental in the successful campaign to save El Salvador’s rivers from the threat of gold mining. With a unanimous vote in El Salvador’s National Assembly in March 2017, El Salvador became the first nation on earth to ban all metallic mining.

Since the arrest of the five water defenders in January 2023 on politically-motivated charges, prominent organizations and individuals have led a national and international campaign spanning 31 countries demanding that the bogus charges be dropped and denouncing the political motivations behind their detention given the lack of evidence presented by the Salvadoran Attorney General’s office.

Beyond the lack of evidence, the Salvadoran Attorney General’s pursuit of this case has dealt a serious blow to the Salvadoran government’s credibility, belying its claim that it remains a democracy and that it holds no political prisoners. The unceasing and courageous pressure from grassroots organizations in El Salvador – in concert with international solidarity – may have worked in favor of the Water Defenders today, but hundreds of political opponents, labor leaders and human rights defenders remain imprisoned. The community-led movement of water defenders still stands strong in the face of future attempts to undermine land and water protections for communities in El Salvador.

Our organizations support the call by Salvadoran civil society groups that the Salvadoran Attorney General should apologize to the five defendants, whose health has suffered greatly over the past 21 months that they have stood accused of and imprisoned on false charges, and to the Santa Marta community, which suffered from genuine military atrocities during the Salvadoran Civil War in 1980-1992. 

As highlighted in a crucial fact-finding January 2024 report, the national and international campaigns have also condemned the criminalization of environmental defenders, the lack of legal rights and due process under the current “state of exception” imposed by the Salvadoran government, and have warned about the intention of the Salvadoran government to reverse the historic 2017 nationwide ban on metals mining. 

The five Water Defenders should never have been charged, and the Salvadoran government’s willingness to pursue these accusations despite their clear innocence signals a worrying willingness to persecute the movement that these five water defenders represent. We call on the Salvadoran government to forgo future sham prosecutions and uphold the democratic rule of law in future pursuit of true justice.

An international observer delegation made up of academics and lawyers from Canada, the United States, and Mexico observed the trial and noted several transgressions by the Salvadoran Attorney General’s lawyers during the proceedings.  Not only did they violate the tribunal’s gag order, by recklessly exposing the identities of witnesses and observers, they exhibited “overly aggressive behavior” toward witnesses.

The international solidarity movement supports the call by Salvadoran civil society and human rights organizations to end the ongoing “state of exception” in El Salvador, to release thousands of people who have been unjustly imprisoned, and to ensure that the historic 2017 nationwide ban on metallic mining remains in place. 

“We applaud this verdict as a signal that justice must prevail in El Salvador. The five prominent Water Defenders who faced politically-motivated charges are heroes of El Salvador — and they never should have been arrested in the first place,” said John Cavanagh, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Policy Studies. “These charges were clearly politically motivated, and through them, the Salvadoran attorney general displayed a stunning lack of respect for human rights and the environment in El Salvador. But the fight is not over – we have to ensure that the persecution of these community and environmental movement leaders does not continue and that they and others will be able to continue their important work safely. Pursuing this trial from the start still signals a willingness by the Salvadoran government to reverse the protections guaranteed by the historic 2017 mining ban.”

“We are grateful to the hundreds of national and international civil society organizations who worked tirelessly for more than 20 months to denounce this injustice. A guilty ruling would have been a death sentence for our compañeros, as the inhumane conditions of Salvadoran jails have become a death trap for people of advanced age who suffer from chronic health conditions,”  said Vidalina Morales, president of The Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES). “We urge the Attorney General not to appeal this decision to the higher courts, but we are ready to go to the international human rights system if necessary to defend their innocence and their life.” 

“As we have said, the absolution of our environmental defenders was the only legal and just outcome. This ruling also upholds the interests and well-being of the country,” Morales continued. “We recognize the professionalism, the independence and the courage of the judges of the Sentencing Tribunal of Sensuntepeque, who correctly applied the law and have not yielded to the extrajudicial pressures and interests that conspired to invent this case.”

“We applaud the verdict. It is an important victory for environmental justice and human rights,” said Viviana Herrera, Latin America Program Coordinator at MiningWatch Canada. “We join Salvadoran civil society, particularly environmental organizations such as ADES, who have worked hard on the case, and hope it will set a precedent for any future case of water defenders facing politically motivated prosecution in El Salvador”.

“Through unity, conviction, and courage – and with overwhelming international support – the Salvadoran popular movement halted a grave injustice today,” said Alexis Stoumbelis, organizational director at the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). “It should not have taken twenty months of a massive national and international campaign to free these community leaders when there was no evidence that a crime had ever occurred – and everyone knew it. That is why international organizations and governments must also join the call for freedom and justice for the dozens of union leaders, land defenders, and community leaders who denounced attacks on their rights and democracy who are now in jail, facing trumped up charges, or in exile, and for the tens of thousands who have been arbitrarily detained under the state of exception. Their lives are in jeopardy every day they remain in prison.”

This statement is endorsed by the following 14 organizations: International Allies against Mining in El Salvador, Americas Policy Group/Groupe d’orientation politique pour les Amériques (APG-GOPA), the Central American Alliance on Mining (ACAFREMIN), Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Common Frontiers, CoDevelopment Canada, the Institute for Policy Studies Trade and Mining Project, InterPares, MiningWatch Canada, Pax Christi International, the SHARE Foundation, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team, The United Church of Canada, and the Washington Ethical Society.

Press contacts:

John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies: johnc@ips-dc.org, +1 (202) 297-4823

Pedro Cabezas, Central American Alliance against Mining (ACAFREMIN) and International Allies Against Mining in El Salvador: stopesmining@gmail.com, + (503) 7498-4423

Alexis Stoumbelis, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), alexis@cispes.org +1 (202) 521-2510 ext. 205

Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies: olivia@ips-dc.org, +1 (202) 704-9011

Viviana Herrera, MiningWatch Canada: viviana@miningwatch.ca, +1 (438) 993-1264

Christie Neufeldt, United Church of Canada: cneufeldt@united-church.ca, +1 (416) 231 7680 ext. 4078 

Professor Jorge Cuéllar, Member of International Delegation Observing Trial, jorge.cuellar@dartmouth.edu

Professor Bernie Hammond, Member of International Delegation Observing Trial, berniehammond@gmail.com 

Political trial of El Salvador’s water defenders continues

by Jim Hodgson

Sadly, it’s not unusual for peace activists and the defenders of ecology or Indigenous rights to find themselves facing trumped-up criminal charges. It’s a bit weird when it happens to members of a modest community development organization in rural El Salvador.

But that’s what has happened to five people whose organization, the Santa Marta Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES). They’re people that I have know for more than 20 years.

This past week, five ADES members have been on trial, accused of a murder that supposedly occurred long ago during El Salvador’s civil war. No one, except zealous defenders of the government of Nayib Bukele, believes they are guilty of that crime. Rather: they built an alliance that reached around the globe, preventing a gold mine from operating in their Cabañas department and eventually winning a ban on metals mining in the whole country. While it is true that the five defendants were FMLN combatants during the 1980-1992 civil war, they are protected by the internationally-recognized Peace Agreement and the National Reconciliation Law, both signed in 1992.

Defence lawyers will present final arguments on Monday (Oct. 14) and a verdict could be issued as soon as Tuesday (Oct. 15). The next few days are a CRITICAL time to raise the visibility as much as we can to try to avoid a grave injustice. 

Here below you will find a statement from observers of the trial and some suggestions about how you can show your solidarity.

Statement of the international observer delegation on the ongoing trail of the Santa Marta and ADES water defenders  

October 11, 2024

Following three days of observing the trial of the five Santa Marta and ADES environmentalists, the international delegation convened by International Allies Against Mining in El Salvador releases the following statement:

San Salvador, we are international observers from King’s College Western University in Canada, Dartmouth College and UCLA Law School in the United States, and the Autonomous University of Mexico City in Mexico. At the conclusion of the third day of the trial, we offer the following observations:

  1. We witnessed a trial that, formally, appears to have followed most international standards of due process, however, the proceedings transgressed those standards on numerous occasions. We agree with the defense that sufficient proof was not presented to convict the five defendants. Based on what was presented in the courtroom, we believe that the only just resolution is the acquittal of all five defendants. Failure to acquit signals the lack of presumption of innocence and, therefore, the lack of an independent judiciary in El Salvador. 
  2. For example, the Attorney General´s communications team violated the gag order imposed by the judges, exposing the identities of witnesses and observers, as well as depicting the defendants in ways that assumed their guilt across social media. We fear that this violation of the gag order without a court reprimand represents a lack of procedural impartiality. Additionally, while journalists were allowed to access court grounds on the final day of the trial, we believe this was a last minute measure to rectify the earlier breach of the gag order by the Attorney General. We lament that the measure was not announced widely to members of the wider press who were respecting the gag order. Throughout the proceedings, the independent press was not allowed to take photos or videos inside the courtroom.
  3. Additionally, we observed an overly aggressive strategy by the lawyers representing the Attorney General that included berating and a using of their bodies to put pressure on witnesses. For this behavior, they were repeatedly cautioned and corrected by the tribunal. Despite warnings and requests by the judges, the Attorney General´s lawyers ignored directions, interrupted procedures, and failed to respect courtroom decorum. 
  4. At least one defendant was mistreated by the police who deprived him of sleep and food. Rather than transferring him directly to his residence following the day’s proceedings, he was held at a police substation and verbally abused, only to arrive home hours later underfed and exhausted. The following morning, police arrived at his home unexpectedly early and denied him a proper breakfast. We witnessed the visible fatigue and inability to focus on the proceedings from all of the accused. Mistreatment remains a concern as the defendants are of advanced age with a variety of preexisting conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. The well-being of the accused must be prioritized to ensure a fair trial. 

Outside of the courtroom, we witnessed overwhelming support for the defendants from international human rights organizations, the Santa Marta community, Salvadoran civil society, and social movement organizations. Many have concluded that the case is an attempt by the Salvadoran government to intimidate the environmental movement that resulted in the landmark national ban on metallic mining in 2017. For us, the incessant pursuit of a conviction by the Attorney General’s lawyers despite a lack of evidence, cannot be unlinked from these broader politics and concerns against communities resisting the encroachment of extractive projects.

While we await the closing arguments and the tribunal’s decision, and based on our observations, we maintain that justice can only be served by a ruling that affirms the innocence of the accused. The community of Santa Marta too, aggrieved and impacted by this lengthy ordeal, must be presented with restitution and steps must be taken to ensure lasting transitional justice.

Given the mistreatment described against one of the defendants above, we recommend that the rest of the proceedings, particularly the logistics of transportation, are monitored by the Office of the Ombudsperson for the Defense of Human Rights in El Salvador (PDDH) to ensure their personal and physical integrity.

  • Aideé Tassinari, Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México
  • Yvette Borja, Faculty of Law, University of California Los Angeles
  • Jorge Cuéllar, Dartmouth College
  • Bernie Hammond, King’s College, University of Western Ontario

What you can do: 

Check out these suggestions from the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES): 

Social media solidarity posts: Make the case visible on social media & make sure the community knows we have their back! As the trial approaches, one of the most important things we can do is show the Salvadoran government that all eyes are on them. You can show your solidarity with the Santa Marta 5 by participating in the international social media campaign!

Write a brief statement of solidarity like:

  • Drop the charges against the Santa Marta 5!
  • ¡Retiren los cargos contra los Santa Marta 5!
  • International solidarity is with the Santa Marta 5!
  • The diaspora is watching! Free the #SantaMarta5 of all charges!
  • Keep El Salvador metallic mining-free!

Take a picture OR make a short video with your sign

Post on social media with the following hashtags: #SantaMartaNoEstaSola  #ComunidadSantaMarta #ADESNoEstáSola

Tag the following orgs on Twitter: @stopesmining @acafremin @CSantaMarta1987 @ades_sm@no_mineria_sv @cispes_solidarity 
(On Facebook: @ComunidadSanta Marta, @Mesa Nacional frente a la Minería Metálica en El Salvador, @International Allies Against Mining, @acafremin, @ADES Santa Marta)

Check out these examples for inspiration from CISPES on X and Instagram

For more information, check out some of these resources:

El Salvador faces scrutiny for ‘political’ trial of five environmental activists, The Guardian, Oct. 9

La Justicia de Bukele vs los Defensores del Agua, Manuel Pérez Rocha, La Jornada, Oct.7

Solidarity with El Salvador’s Santa Marta 5 Grows Across Borders | NACLA
Minera Titán, la empresa que acecha para llevarse el oro de El Salvador – Voz Pública
Threat of Metal Mining Returns to El Salvador, Organizations Warn | CISPES
State of Deception: Fact Finding Report

Global allies stand with El Salvador’s water defenders

by Jim Hodgson

The global allies that united to accompany communities in El Salvador in their defence of water  resources against a Canadian mining company are working together again to defend five community leaders and to ensure that a national ban on open-pit mining stays in place.

Thursday, Jan. 11 marks one year since Antonio Pacheco and four colleagues were arrested in and near Santa Marta in northern Cabañas. 

On Jan. 5, 185 academics and lawyers, and 13 organizations from 21 countries sent an open letter to the Salvadoran Attorney General calling for the case against the five to be dropped. 

The five water defenders were FMLN combatants during the 1980-1992 civil war in El Salvador and are protected, the lawyers argue, by El Salvador’s internationally-recognized Peace Agreement and the National Reconciliation Law, both signed in 1992.

The lawyers’ letter says that Salvadoran prosecutors lack evidence, but the men – released from jail in September – still face charges of murder, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and unlawful association, alleged crimes that took place 33 years ago within the context of the civil war.

Rallies to support the Santa Marta Five are happening on Wednesday, Jan. 10 in person at the above-named locations at 4 PM local time. 

Water protectors in El Salvador say the arrests are politically motivated and a strategy to demobilize strong community opposition to mining as the government of President Nayib Bukele seeks to end the 2017 national prohibition of metals mining.

“The selective violation of the National Reconciliation Law to muzzle key leaders of the anti-mining movement while stifling any meaningful attempt to bring the largest perpetrators of human rights violations during the civil war – the Salvadoran military – to justice is a telling sign of the political motivations behind this case,” says the lawyers’ letter.

The perpetrators of the largest massacres of the civil war and of several high-profile assassinations have never been prosecuted in El Salvador. A series of massacres in northern Cabañas in late 1980 and in 1981 that led the people of Santa Marta and nearby communities to flee across the Lempa River into a six-year exile in Honduras have scarcely been investigated.

Late last year, an international delegation visited Santa Marta and other parts of El Salvador to look more deeply at the charges against the Santa Marta Five and the broader context of human rights violations in El Salvador. Their report “State of Deception: Fact Finding Report on the Detained Santa Marta Water Defenders, Mining, and the State of Human Rights under the Bukele Administration, will be released Thursday, Jan. 11.  

The report will show how Bukele has – in the words of Manuel Perez-Rocha of the Institute for Policy Studies – “reduced the independence of the judiciary, violated basic human rights, suspended civil liberties, and upended the rule of law.”

The United Church of Canada (my previous employer) has two funded partners in El Salvador. In 2019, when Emmanuel Baptist Church recognized its long relationship with the United Church, two colleagues from the Santa Marta Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES) travelled from Cabañas to San Salvador to join our celebration. Shown here are: Antonio Pacheco, the ADES executive director (one of the five men arrested a year ago); Kathy Brett, a member of the United Church’s executive; former Moderator Jordan Cantwell; ADES President Vidalina Morales; and Jim Hodgson, Latin America program coordinator at that time.

Human rights groups including Amnesty International have documented severe abuses of human rights under the guise of overcoming street-gang violence. Says Amnesty: “As of October 2023, local victims movements and human rights organizations had recorded more than 73,800 detentions, 327 cases of forced disappearances, approximately 102,000 people imprisoned – making El Salvador the country with the world’s highest incarceration rate – a rate of prison overcrowding of approximately 236%, and more than 190 deaths in state custody.”

Among the most recently-targeted is Rubén Zamora, the 81-year-old former politician and diplomat who was, for many, the public face of the coalition of groups aligned against the government during the civil war. Zamora was a Christian Democrat who left his party in 1980 over its alliance with the armed forces. He was a member of congress in the early 90s, and ran for the FMLN as its presidential candidate in 2004. 

After a life-long career in politics, Rubén Zamora served as El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States in 2013-14, and then served until 2019 as ambassador to the United Nations.

Absurdly, he is accused of helping to cover up one of the high-profile massacres – El Mozote in 1981, when about 1,000 people were murdered, the largest single massacre of civilians in modern Latin American history – by being a member of congress when the abysmal 1993 amnesty law was approved. But Zamora opposed that law and refused to add his signature to it once it was approved by other legislators. (That law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2016.)

ADES and other Cabañas organizations that support the Santa Marta Five have also called for support to Zamora. There is also an on-line petition that you can sign.