News Release
For immediate release
September 16, 2006
Contact: Bjorn Claeson, 207-262-7277(o); 207-949-2375©
Governor Rendell Joins National Anti-Sweatshop Initiative
Three Governors Take Lead in Coalition to End Tax Subsidies of Sweatshops
Rendell’s Action Responsive to, Lauded by Diverse Coalition
September 16 – Today Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that he is joining a path-breaking governors’ initiative to end sweatshop exploitation in apparel and other industries. Proposed by Governor John E. Baldacci of Maine, the Governors’ Coalition for Sweatfree Procurement and Workers’ Rights will use state government procurement as a catalyst to level the playing field for ethical businesses and advance justice for sweatshop workers. Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development Sandi Vito made the announcement at an anti-sweatshop educational event in Harrisburg, hosted by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
“We must not encourage companies that use sweatshops by doing business with them,” Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell said. “If companies know they will lose money by continuing to employ this industrial-age practice, they will stop. Businesses can still make money by treating their employees fairly.”
“There's power in numbers,” added Governor John E. Baldacci. “If we team up with other states we'll have even more influence in the global marketplace. Workers around the world deserve any influence or leverage we can bring to the table.”
Governor Rendell’s announcement follows last week’s news that New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine also will participate in the Coalition. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine all have made previous commitments to sweatshop-free procurement through legislation that includes a code of conduct requiring state contractors and subcontractors of apparel and other products to adhere to basic international fair labor standards. Other public entities with similar legislation include the states of California, Illinois, and New York, and over 60 cities, counties, and school districts.
By acting together, states and other public entities can increase resources for investigating sweatshop conditions and coordinate enforcement of sweatfree procurement policies. According to SweatFree Communities, a worker rights organization that coordinates a nationwide campaign for a State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium, five U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have also expressed interest in collaborating with other public entities to enforce sweatfree procurement legislation.
Governor Rendell’s announcement drew praise from a wide range of worker rights advocates and businesses, including garment workers’ unions, public sector unions, civil rights organizations, student groups, and apparel contractors that had requested Governor Rendell to join the Coalition.
“The sewing machine operators, pressers, and cutters who work in the Pennsylvania garment industry applaud Governor Rendell’s continued support of sweat-free procurement.” said Gail Meyer Vice President of Pennsylvania Joint Board UNITE HERE. “We are looking forward to working closely with the Governor in this new Coalition.”
“This is about exporting Pennsylvania's high standards for workers' rights throughout the global economy and creating a fair playing field that starts with respect for the human rights of workers everywhere,” said Celeste Taylor, Pittsburgh Anti- Sweatshop Community Alliance’s representative to the SweatFree Communities Board and a member of the Black Political Empowerment Project’s Planning Council. “This is an extension of the historic role of Pennsylvania's Abolitionist and Labor Union movements. The Governor takes a profound step forward by doing what is necessary to strictly enforce the 2004 Anti-Sweatshop Executive Order and offering to collaborate with other governmental jurisdictions to do so.”
More information about the campaign for a State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium is available at: http://www.sweatfree.org/sweatfreeconsortium
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Communities of CCR Say ‘No’ to Mining before Salvadoran Legislative Assembly
6 of September, 2006
By Sebastian Dario
Chalatenango--On Saturday, the Legislative Assembly held their weekly floor session in Chalatenango City rather than in San Salvador. The organized communities of the CCR-CRIPDES were present, lining the streets of Chalatenango with anti-mining banners. The protest was part of ongoing activities by the National Table Against Mining, of which CRIPDES and its regional branches form part.
Early Saturday morning, young people from the communities of the CCR mounted their bicycles to tour the Department, raising awareness in every town they passed of the dangers of allowing Canadian mining companies Aura Resources Inc. (formerly Au Martinique Silver, Inc.) and Intrepid Minerals and their subsidiaries to develop mining projects in the region.
In addition to constant mobilizations by the rural communities affected by mining projects, specifically those in the CCR region of Chalatenango, the National Table Against Mining is working with lawyers to develop a Mining Law reform, in which metallic mineral mining would be banned in El Salvador. The draft of the mining law will be presented to the Legislative Assembly in a march planned for around Columbus Day.
The communities of the CCR have continued to carry out activities in protest of the Canadian mining company's presence in Chalatenango, despite the declaration by Minister of the Environment Hugo Barrera that there would be no mining exploitation licenses issued to any company because the Ministry did not have the resources to monitor the environmental impacts of mining. This has not dissuaded the mining companies from carrying out their exploration work.
Faced with the mining company's continued presence in Chalatenango, Felipe Tobar, a long time community leader and current board president of the community of San Jose Las Flores, said that community members, in coordination with the CCR, have expanded their educational work to reach the entire Department of Chalatenango, including work with unorganized communities where the CCR does not currently have a presence.
In a recent meeting of the National Table Against Mining, Felipe Tobar reported that to date nobody in Chalatenango has sold their land to the mining company, thanks to the department-wide educational campaign community leaders have been carrying out since last year. The right of property owners to decide whether or not the mining company may operate in the region is seen as one of the few legal resources the communities have to keep mining companies off their lands under Salvadoran Mining Law. Exercising this right, the property owners in the communities of San Jose Las Flores, Arcatao, Los Amates, Guarjila, Ignacio Ellacuria, Carasque and others have combed their properties, searching out mining company markers and recovering them in the face of continued mining company exploration. "Because of this," said Tobar, "it is more important than ever to strengthen out community organizing and protect our lands and communities."
By Sebastian Dario
Chalatenango--On Saturday, the Legislative Assembly held their weekly floor session in Chalatenango City rather than in San Salvador. The organized communities of the CCR-CRIPDES were present, lining the streets of Chalatenango with anti-mining banners. The protest was part of ongoing activities by the National Table Against Mining, of which CRIPDES and its regional branches form part.
Early Saturday morning, young people from the communities of the CCR mounted their bicycles to tour the Department, raising awareness in every town they passed of the dangers of allowing Canadian mining companies Aura Resources Inc. (formerly Au Martinique Silver, Inc.) and Intrepid Minerals and their subsidiaries to develop mining projects in the region.
In addition to constant mobilizations by the rural communities affected by mining projects, specifically those in the CCR region of Chalatenango, the National Table Against Mining is working with lawyers to develop a Mining Law reform, in which metallic mineral mining would be banned in El Salvador. The draft of the mining law will be presented to the Legislative Assembly in a march planned for around Columbus Day.
The communities of the CCR have continued to carry out activities in protest of the Canadian mining company's presence in Chalatenango, despite the declaration by Minister of the Environment Hugo Barrera that there would be no mining exploitation licenses issued to any company because the Ministry did not have the resources to monitor the environmental impacts of mining. This has not dissuaded the mining companies from carrying out their exploration work.
Faced with the mining company's continued presence in Chalatenango, Felipe Tobar, a long time community leader and current board president of the community of San Jose Las Flores, said that community members, in coordination with the CCR, have expanded their educational work to reach the entire Department of Chalatenango, including work with unorganized communities where the CCR does not currently have a presence.
In a recent meeting of the National Table Against Mining, Felipe Tobar reported that to date nobody in Chalatenango has sold their land to the mining company, thanks to the department-wide educational campaign community leaders have been carrying out since last year. The right of property owners to decide whether or not the mining company may operate in the region is seen as one of the few legal resources the communities have to keep mining companies off their lands under Salvadoran Mining Law. Exercising this right, the property owners in the communities of San Jose Las Flores, Arcatao, Los Amates, Guarjila, Ignacio Ellacuria, Carasque and others have combed their properties, searching out mining company markers and recovering them in the face of continued mining company exploration. "Because of this," said Tobar, "it is more important than ever to strengthen out community organizing and protect our lands and communities."
Thursday, September 07, 2006
El Salvador: Repression in the Name of Security, Sound Familiar?
Repression in the Name of Security, Sound Familiar?
September 3, 2006
US El Salvador Sister Cities Staff
Extortions of bus drivers and professionals[i], the reappearance of death squads linked to the National Civilian Police force[ii], more than 11 homicides per day[iii], State imposed curfews[iv], and military occupations of rural communities[v]; this is the content of some of the headlines in major newspapers around El Salvador this week.
On Tuesday communities in the Lower Lempa region of San Vicente denounced the armed raid without search warrant of their historical museum by the Salvadoran Armed Forces and National Civilian Police, under order of the Attorney Generals Office. Likewise, Beatrice de Carrillo, Salvadoran Attorney General for Human Rights has denounced the existence of death squads in the style of seventies and eighties, which she links directly and indirectly to the National Civilian Police. As clear evidence of death squads, she points to the execution style assassinations and bodies recovered showing disfigurations and signs of torture.
The use of the armed forces under the guise of security, whether it be fighting gang violence or protecting borders, is part of an escalating reality in El Salvador, fuelled by the fear increasing levels of violence generates, and political motives. It is this fear that has launched the Legislative Assembly into a discussion about state of emergency curfews, and has people debating the benefits of death squads to eliminate gangs; fear generated security measures at the cost of human rights.
Over the last couple weeks, the Legislative Assembly has been discussing imposing a State of Emergency curfew on some neighbourhoods in the Greater San Salvador, in an effort to curb violence[vi]. Nevertheless, many poorer and marginalized communities have been living under gang and organized crime imposed curfews for some time now, simply because leaving ones home at night is so dangerous.[vii]
Now, some CRIPDES communities are experiencing the militarization of their towns, not by gang members, but by the Salvadoran Armed Forces. Since the aftermath of the July 5th shootings at the National University in San Salvador, when the Minister of the Interior Rene Figueroa claimed that the FMLN supported armed groups,[viii] there has been an increased military presence in the Lower Lempa region in San Vicente, and in other parts of the country. Military presence generally is most notable in FMLN strongholds or repopulations of ex-combatants.
On August 24, sixty members of the Salvadoran Army and twenty four police officers occupied the community of La Sabana all day, raiding the local historical museum without a warrant, threatening to arrest community leaders, and intimidating the population. They claimed the museum was a weapons cache, when in fact it holds artefacts that were decommissioned by the UN through the Peace Accords, have been in the community without incident during the fourteen years since they were destroyed, and all carry their UN documentation, certifying their status.
Days before the raid, the Army had been through many of the communities in the Lower Lempa Region, vaccinating farm animals. In retrospect, community members point out that the vaccination program was also a clear reconnaissance mission, in which the army identified potential targets for later raids. In a community wide Assembly in Las Anonas, San Vicente on the 31st of August, community and CRIPDES leaders warned that everyone should be alert for military movement in the area, and ready to leave their houses to confront police and military presence. In La Sabana the National Civilian Police would have arrested community members in charge of the museum had it not been for the rapid response and mobilization of the entire region, who blocked authorities from taking their leaders away.
Militarization is a national phenomenon. In the Arcatao, the Department of Chalatenango, there has been a military post for some time. Military officials in Chalatenango say that the three soldiers they posted in the community were placed there to guard the boarder. However, when the community called an assembly and invited military officials to address disorderly behavior by the soldiers, the Colonel in charge of the post did not show. A few days after the assembly, on August 15th, the Colonel arrived in Arcatao with about twenty troops armed with machine guns, which stationed themselves around the town square. He met with community leaders, and later removed the three soldiers from their post, only to immediately increase the troop deployment in Arcatao to ten soldiers. Like the Lower Lempa, Chalatenango is a historic FMLN stronghold, and at the center of the national mining debate.
In the face of the violence and fear campaign, the organized communities of CRIPDES demanded in an August 29th press release an “end of the campaign of intimidation, terror, and unfounded accusations on behalf of the Government of Antonio Saca, against community leaders and the communities of the Lower Lempa and other regions of the country.” Likewise, in a unanimous call at Thursday’s community assembly in Las Anonas, the community agreed to unite in the face of repression, to protect their communities and neighbors from the threat of repression and militarization.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] Carlos Montes, Mauricio Bolaños, David Marroquín, Milton Grimaldi. “Extorsiones Causan Paros y Homicidios.” La Prensa Grafica. 1 de septiembre, 2006. http://www.laprensagrafica.com/nacion/580753.asp
[ii] Leonel Herrera. “PDDH insiste en investigar a grupos de exterminio.” Diario Colatino. 30 de agosto, 2006. http://www.diariocolatino.com/nacionales/detalles.asp?NewsID=13629
[iii] “Asesinan a periodista de diario salvadoreño.” El Comicio. 28 de agosto, 2006. http://www.elcomercioperu.com.pe/EdicionOnline/Html/2006-08-28/onEcMundo0567314.html
[iv] Beatriz Castillo, Iván Escobar. “Toque de queda y limpieza social acechan colonias.” Diario Colatino. 29 de agosto, 2006. http://www.diariocolatino.com/nacionales/detalles.asp?NewsID=13606
[v] Beatriz Castillo. “Comunidades del Bajo Lempa denuncian acoso policial y militar.” Diario Colatino. 31 de agosto, 2006.
[vi] C. Monti, k. Urquilla. “Esperan opinión de FGR para el toque de queda.” Diario de Hoy. 22 de agosto, 2006. http://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2006/08/22/nacional/nac2.asp
[vii] Daniel Valencia. “Toque de queda en el paraíso de Soyapango.” El Faro. 28 de agosto, 2006. http://www.elfaro.net/Secciones/noticias/20060109/noticias7_20060109.asp
[viii] CISPES. 7 of July, 2006. http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques_-_Action_Alerts/espanol_7julio.html
September 3, 2006
US El Salvador Sister Cities Staff
Extortions of bus drivers and professionals[i], the reappearance of death squads linked to the National Civilian Police force[ii], more than 11 homicides per day[iii], State imposed curfews[iv], and military occupations of rural communities[v]; this is the content of some of the headlines in major newspapers around El Salvador this week.
On Tuesday communities in the Lower Lempa region of San Vicente denounced the armed raid without search warrant of their historical museum by the Salvadoran Armed Forces and National Civilian Police, under order of the Attorney Generals Office. Likewise, Beatrice de Carrillo, Salvadoran Attorney General for Human Rights has denounced the existence of death squads in the style of seventies and eighties, which she links directly and indirectly to the National Civilian Police. As clear evidence of death squads, she points to the execution style assassinations and bodies recovered showing disfigurations and signs of torture.
The use of the armed forces under the guise of security, whether it be fighting gang violence or protecting borders, is part of an escalating reality in El Salvador, fuelled by the fear increasing levels of violence generates, and political motives. It is this fear that has launched the Legislative Assembly into a discussion about state of emergency curfews, and has people debating the benefits of death squads to eliminate gangs; fear generated security measures at the cost of human rights.
Over the last couple weeks, the Legislative Assembly has been discussing imposing a State of Emergency curfew on some neighbourhoods in the Greater San Salvador, in an effort to curb violence[vi]. Nevertheless, many poorer and marginalized communities have been living under gang and organized crime imposed curfews for some time now, simply because leaving ones home at night is so dangerous.[vii]
Now, some CRIPDES communities are experiencing the militarization of their towns, not by gang members, but by the Salvadoran Armed Forces. Since the aftermath of the July 5th shootings at the National University in San Salvador, when the Minister of the Interior Rene Figueroa claimed that the FMLN supported armed groups,[viii] there has been an increased military presence in the Lower Lempa region in San Vicente, and in other parts of the country. Military presence generally is most notable in FMLN strongholds or repopulations of ex-combatants.
On August 24, sixty members of the Salvadoran Army and twenty four police officers occupied the community of La Sabana all day, raiding the local historical museum without a warrant, threatening to arrest community leaders, and intimidating the population. They claimed the museum was a weapons cache, when in fact it holds artefacts that were decommissioned by the UN through the Peace Accords, have been in the community without incident during the fourteen years since they were destroyed, and all carry their UN documentation, certifying their status.
Days before the raid, the Army had been through many of the communities in the Lower Lempa Region, vaccinating farm animals. In retrospect, community members point out that the vaccination program was also a clear reconnaissance mission, in which the army identified potential targets for later raids. In a community wide Assembly in Las Anonas, San Vicente on the 31st of August, community and CRIPDES leaders warned that everyone should be alert for military movement in the area, and ready to leave their houses to confront police and military presence. In La Sabana the National Civilian Police would have arrested community members in charge of the museum had it not been for the rapid response and mobilization of the entire region, who blocked authorities from taking their leaders away.
Militarization is a national phenomenon. In the Arcatao, the Department of Chalatenango, there has been a military post for some time. Military officials in Chalatenango say that the three soldiers they posted in the community were placed there to guard the boarder. However, when the community called an assembly and invited military officials to address disorderly behavior by the soldiers, the Colonel in charge of the post did not show. A few days after the assembly, on August 15th, the Colonel arrived in Arcatao with about twenty troops armed with machine guns, which stationed themselves around the town square. He met with community leaders, and later removed the three soldiers from their post, only to immediately increase the troop deployment in Arcatao to ten soldiers. Like the Lower Lempa, Chalatenango is a historic FMLN stronghold, and at the center of the national mining debate.
In the face of the violence and fear campaign, the organized communities of CRIPDES demanded in an August 29th press release an “end of the campaign of intimidation, terror, and unfounded accusations on behalf of the Government of Antonio Saca, against community leaders and the communities of the Lower Lempa and other regions of the country.” Likewise, in a unanimous call at Thursday’s community assembly in Las Anonas, the community agreed to unite in the face of repression, to protect their communities and neighbors from the threat of repression and militarization.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] Carlos Montes, Mauricio Bolaños, David Marroquín, Milton Grimaldi. “Extorsiones Causan Paros y Homicidios.” La Prensa Grafica. 1 de septiembre, 2006. http://www.laprensagrafica.com/nacion/580753.asp
[ii] Leonel Herrera. “PDDH insiste en investigar a grupos de exterminio.” Diario Colatino. 30 de agosto, 2006. http://www.diariocolatino.com/nacionales/detalles.asp?NewsID=13629
[iii] “Asesinan a periodista de diario salvadoreño.” El Comicio. 28 de agosto, 2006. http://www.elcomercioperu.com.pe/EdicionOnline/Html/2006-08-28/onEcMundo0567314.html
[iv] Beatriz Castillo, Iván Escobar. “Toque de queda y limpieza social acechan colonias.” Diario Colatino. 29 de agosto, 2006. http://www.diariocolatino.com/nacionales/detalles.asp?NewsID=13606
[v] Beatriz Castillo. “Comunidades del Bajo Lempa denuncian acoso policial y militar.” Diario Colatino. 31 de agosto, 2006.
[vi] C. Monti, k. Urquilla. “Esperan opinión de FGR para el toque de queda.” Diario de Hoy. 22 de agosto, 2006. http://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2006/08/22/nacional/nac2.asp
[vii] Daniel Valencia. “Toque de queda en el paraíso de Soyapango.” El Faro. 28 de agosto, 2006. http://www.elfaro.net/Secciones/noticias/20060109/noticias7_20060109.asp
[viii] CISPES. 7 of July, 2006. http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques_-_Action_Alerts/espanol_7julio.html
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Support Salvadoran Garment Workers
Support Hermosa Maquila Workers
FROM CRISPAZ, 8/29/06
Hermosa Maquila Workers Put Former Boss in the Hotseat
Women workers from the now-closed “Hermosa Manufacturing” maquila factory announced that Hermosa owner, Joaquin Salvador Montalvo, will be the subject of a court hearing set for September 1 in the city of Apopa . The women are suing their former boss for failure to pass on their social security and pension deductions to the government agencies responsible for those accounts. Montalvo now operates a maquiladora known as MB Knitting Mills in Guazapa, 20 miles from San Salvador.
The women’s pay stubs show deductions for Social Security and pension payments, but Montalvo failed to pass those deductions to the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS) and pension fund. Hermosa workers report that many employees got a rude awakening when they visited public hospitals and were told that they could not be served because they had not paid into the system. Workers say that Social Security authorities and Montalvo worked out a partial payment deal, whereby some women received care at government facilities, while others were arbitrarily shut out. Many pregnant women were denied pre-natal care as a result of the negligent payments.
Now Montalvo is in the hot seat. It’s not the first time: workers previously occupied his factory for months when Montalvo closed Hermosa and attempted to move equipment to the MB Mills site 20 miles away. Former Hermosa workers have opened lawsuits against their former boss for back wages, pension money, and social security payments. The September 1 hearing will define if there is enough evidence to move to trial in the pension case. The other cases are pending.
ACTION: SEND A LETTER
Hermosa workers are asking that interested persons and unions send the following letter to El Salvadoran President Tony Saca, to bring their former boss to justice for his negligent actions.
ELIAS ANTONIO SACA
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR
casapres@casapres.gob.sv
fax: +503 2243 7857 / 9930
copy to:
Beatrice Alamani de Carrillo
Human Rights Ombudswoman
fax: + 503 2222 0655
Felix Garried Safie
Attorney General of the Republic
fgsafie@fgr.gob.sv
fax: + 503 2249 - 8613
Mr. Elias Antonio Saca
President of the Republic of El Salvador
Dear Mr. Saca:
Through this letter, we manifest our extreme concern for stalled justice in the case of the workers of the Hermosa Manufacturing factory.
It has come to our attention that both the labor and penal processes have so far lasted more than a year. Lengthy judicial processes in which peoples' subsistence is at stake should be prioritized and resolved immediately. We are also aware that the Attorney General's Office has not informed workers of the hearing dates to present key witnesses in cases brought by workers. This has left many of these cases impugn. Likewise, we are aware that in the penal process against Mr. Montalvo Machado there has been an assessment of the factory machinery based on Mr. Montalvo's own evaluation. We demand that plaintiffs also be able to present a qualified assessment of the value of that machinery, thus holding with the principle of procedural equality.
In light of the above, we demand of you the appropriate attention in this case and the prompt resolution of the persistent problems that workers experience. We denounce the stalling of justice and the overt bias demonstrated by government institutions in favor of maquila owners in cases brought by workers.
We condemn these practices that threaten our nation's democratic development and challenge the integrity of the State, which should promote first and foremost the development of the individual worker within a just legal framework.
Name:
Organization:
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Resistance and Repression in Oaxaca
College of the Atlantic Professor Gray Cox has an excellent op-ed piece in today's Bangor Daily News about the nonviolent uprising in Oaxaca in southern Mexico, and the violent military, police, and paramilitary response to it.
Oaxaca is Mexico's second poorest state, a region where the falling corn prices brought on by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have devastated the local economy.
The Narco News Bulletin provides excellent background information, analysis, and continuous updates about the struggle in Oaxaca.
Oaxaca is Mexico's second poorest state, a region where the falling corn prices brought on by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have devastated the local economy.
The Narco News Bulletin provides excellent background information, analysis, and continuous updates about the struggle in Oaxaca.
More Repression in El Salvador
Wave of Repression continues in El Salvador with Death Squad-style Murders of FMLN Leaders
* Salvadoran Movement calls for international pressure for a timely and thorough investigation*
Alex Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya, two well-known FMLN leaders, were found dead last Wednesday in the municipality of Coatepeque, department of Santa Ana. The husband and wife were traveling in their vehicle when they were intercepted by another vehicle. They were then forced to lay face down on the ground, each shot with a single bullet to the head, and abandoned in a nearby alley. Alex Flores Montoya was a teacher in two of the local public schools, and as an FMLN activist he served as the local FMLN board’s adjunct coordinator and ran for municipal council with the FMLN in the March 2006 elections. Mercedes Peñate de Montoya was also a recognized FMLN activist and former candidate to the FMLN municipal council in the March 2000 elections.
The FMLN denounced the death squad-style killings and is demanding a prompt and thorough investigation by the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). Luis Corvera, FMLN coordinator for the department of Santa Ana, said last Friday that the crime “cannot be left in impunity.” Corvera expressed the concerns of many Salvadorans saying that the murders are most likely political because the way in which the Montoyas were killed is typical of the Salvadoran death squads of the 1980’s.
Political violence in El Salvador has been escalating since the violence of July 5th, when police attacked a student protest against the rising cost of bus fare and two police officers were killed. That night the PNC illegally raided the union federation CSTS and tortured and illegaly detened union leader Daniel Ernesto Morales on July 5th, then on July 17th SETA (the water worker’s union) received a death threat signed by a supposed death squad group. In recent weeks, two “social-cleansing” death squads have reemerged in the western part of the country, and last Thursday the Salvadoran Army, spurred on by the ARENA rhetoric that has been calling the FMLN and its supporters “terrorists,” illegally occupied a rural organized community in San Vicente claiming they were looking for weapons. Meanwhile, nothing has been done in the investigation of the recent brutal murder of FMLN leader “Mariposa” Marina Manzanares’ parents in Suchitoto on July 1st, and the government has done nothing to address the evidence of death squad-like groups operating from within the PNC. (For details about the protest and violence, go to here or here for previous alerts, or check out our recent El Salvador updates here.
In the context of this escalating repression, the FMLN and Salvadoran social movement are calling for international solidarity to pressure the Attorney General’s office for a prompt and thorough investigation into the murders. Join us in demanding an end to the violence and respect for the right to organize in El Salvador – the social movement and international solidarity demand justice, not impunity, for the perpetrators of political repression!
TAKE ACTION!
1. Write to the Salvadoran Attorney General and demand that the office carry out a prompt and thorough investigation into both the most recent Montoya couple assassination and the July 1st Manzanares couple brutal murder. (see below for sample fax)
Sr. Félix Garrid Safie P., Fiscal General de La República de El Salvador -Fax: 011(503)2249 - 8607 or e-mail to fgsafie@fgr.gob.sv. Send a copy of your message and any reply to Krista Hanson at the CISPES National Office: krista@cispes.org
2. Call your Congressional Representative to inform them of the continued political repression in El Salvador and ask that she or he follow up on the recent Dear Colleague letter that called on the U.S. State Department to investigate the Salvadoran police’s respect for human rights – the Capitol Hill switchboard is 202-224-3121. The letter, including the list of signers, is on-line here. [Note: Rep. Michaud signed on to the letter and should definitely be asked to call President Saca and Secretary Rice.]
Sample Fax:
Para: Sr. Félix Garrid Safie
Fiscal General de la República de El Salvador
Presente
011-503-2249 - 8607
29 de Agosto de 2006
Estimado Sr. Félix Garrid Safie,
Le escribo para expresarle mi grave preocupación sobre los asesinatos de Alex Flores Montoya y Mercedes Peñate de Montoya el pasado Miércoles, 23 de Agosto por horas de la tarde. Los esposos, quienes eran reconocidos líderes del FMLN, fueron asesinados con un disparo a la cabeza y abandonados en el caserío San Isidro, jurisdicción de Coatepeque. Ellos dejan en la orfandad a sus 3 hijos, de 17, 21 y 25 años de edad. El asesinato ocurre a unas cuantas semanas después del brutal asesinato de los esposos Manzanares, el 1ero de Julio en Suchitoto, quienes también militaban en el FMLN.
Ambos asesinatos fueron ejecutados en un estilo propio a los Escuadrones de la Muerte, grupos armados clandestinos que funcionaron con impunidad durante la guerra en El Salvador. El hecho que cada vez es más y más frecuente este estilo de asesinato, junto con el reaparecimiento de grupos de limpieza social como la Sombra Negra y el Comando Central Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, y denuncias de grupos de exterminio dentro de la Policía Nacional Civil, apunta a un peligroso retroceso en el respeto a los derechos humanos en El Salvador. Todo ello es aún más alarmante cuando la represión política va en aumento y las ejecuciones parecieran ser deliberadamente en contra de activistas políticos de izquierda.
Por lo tanto, le pido que la Fiscalía General de la República efectúe una pronta y profunda investigación de estos casos y que por ningún motivo queden en la impunidad. Además, la Fiscalía General de la República deberá investigar los móviles políticos detrás de estos asesinatos y no descartarlos de antemano como suele hacer. Estaré al tanto del desarrollo de la investigación, así como el posterior enjuiciamiento de los culpables, y mantendré mis congresistas informados sobre la represión política en El Salvador.
Atentamente,
_______________
English version of sample fax (send Spanish version)
To: Mr. Félix Garrid Safie
Attorney General of the Republic of El Salvador
011-503-2249 - 8607
August 29, 2006
Dear Mr. Félix Garrid Safie,
I write you to express my grave concern with regards to the murders of Alex Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya this past Wednesday, August 23rd. The couple, both of whom were recognized FMLN leaders, were killed with a single shot to the head and abandoned in the neighborhood of San Isidro, in the municipality of Coatepeque. They leave behind their 3 children, who are 17, 21 and 25 years old. These killings come just weeks after the brutal assassination on July 1st of the Manzanares, both of whom were also militants in the FMLN.
Both murders were carried out in the style of the death squads, armed clandestine groups that operated with impunity during the war in El Salvador. The fact that this type of murder is more and more frequent, as well as the resurgence of social cleansing groups like the Sombra Negra and the Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez Central Commando and the denouncements of extermination groups within the ranks of the National Civilian Police, all point to a dangerous setback in the respect for human rights in El Salvador. All of this is even more alarming when political repression in on the rise and these executions appear to be deliberately targeting political activists on the left.
Because of this, I ask the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic carry out a prompt and thorough investigation into these cases and that they are not left in impunity for any reason. Furthermore, the Attorney General’s Office should investigate the political motives behind these killings and not discard them a priori as is usual the case. I will be following the development of the investigations, as well as the subsequent judicial case against those responsible, and maintain my congressmen and women informed about political repression in El Salvador.
Sincerely,
_______________
* Salvadoran Movement calls for international pressure for a timely and thorough investigation*
Alex Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya, two well-known FMLN leaders, were found dead last Wednesday in the municipality of Coatepeque, department of Santa Ana. The husband and wife were traveling in their vehicle when they were intercepted by another vehicle. They were then forced to lay face down on the ground, each shot with a single bullet to the head, and abandoned in a nearby alley. Alex Flores Montoya was a teacher in two of the local public schools, and as an FMLN activist he served as the local FMLN board’s adjunct coordinator and ran for municipal council with the FMLN in the March 2006 elections. Mercedes Peñate de Montoya was also a recognized FMLN activist and former candidate to the FMLN municipal council in the March 2000 elections.
The FMLN denounced the death squad-style killings and is demanding a prompt and thorough investigation by the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). Luis Corvera, FMLN coordinator for the department of Santa Ana, said last Friday that the crime “cannot be left in impunity.” Corvera expressed the concerns of many Salvadorans saying that the murders are most likely political because the way in which the Montoyas were killed is typical of the Salvadoran death squads of the 1980’s.
Political violence in El Salvador has been escalating since the violence of July 5th, when police attacked a student protest against the rising cost of bus fare and two police officers were killed. That night the PNC illegally raided the union federation CSTS and tortured and illegaly detened union leader Daniel Ernesto Morales on July 5th, then on July 17th SETA (the water worker’s union) received a death threat signed by a supposed death squad group. In recent weeks, two “social-cleansing” death squads have reemerged in the western part of the country, and last Thursday the Salvadoran Army, spurred on by the ARENA rhetoric that has been calling the FMLN and its supporters “terrorists,” illegally occupied a rural organized community in San Vicente claiming they were looking for weapons. Meanwhile, nothing has been done in the investigation of the recent brutal murder of FMLN leader “Mariposa” Marina Manzanares’ parents in Suchitoto on July 1st, and the government has done nothing to address the evidence of death squad-like groups operating from within the PNC. (For details about the protest and violence, go to here or here for previous alerts, or check out our recent El Salvador updates here.
In the context of this escalating repression, the FMLN and Salvadoran social movement are calling for international solidarity to pressure the Attorney General’s office for a prompt and thorough investigation into the murders. Join us in demanding an end to the violence and respect for the right to organize in El Salvador – the social movement and international solidarity demand justice, not impunity, for the perpetrators of political repression!
TAKE ACTION!
1. Write to the Salvadoran Attorney General and demand that the office carry out a prompt and thorough investigation into both the most recent Montoya couple assassination and the July 1st Manzanares couple brutal murder. (see below for sample fax)
Sr. Félix Garrid Safie P., Fiscal General de La República de El Salvador -Fax: 011(503)2249 - 8607 or e-mail to fgsafie@fgr.gob.sv. Send a copy of your message and any reply to Krista Hanson at the CISPES National Office: krista@cispes.org
2. Call your Congressional Representative to inform them of the continued political repression in El Salvador and ask that she or he follow up on the recent Dear Colleague letter that called on the U.S. State Department to investigate the Salvadoran police’s respect for human rights – the Capitol Hill switchboard is 202-224-3121. The letter, including the list of signers, is on-line here. [Note: Rep. Michaud signed on to the letter and should definitely be asked to call President Saca and Secretary Rice.]
Sample Fax:
Para: Sr. Félix Garrid Safie
Fiscal General de la República de El Salvador
Presente
011-503-2249 - 8607
29 de Agosto de 2006
Estimado Sr. Félix Garrid Safie,
Le escribo para expresarle mi grave preocupación sobre los asesinatos de Alex Flores Montoya y Mercedes Peñate de Montoya el pasado Miércoles, 23 de Agosto por horas de la tarde. Los esposos, quienes eran reconocidos líderes del FMLN, fueron asesinados con un disparo a la cabeza y abandonados en el caserío San Isidro, jurisdicción de Coatepeque. Ellos dejan en la orfandad a sus 3 hijos, de 17, 21 y 25 años de edad. El asesinato ocurre a unas cuantas semanas después del brutal asesinato de los esposos Manzanares, el 1ero de Julio en Suchitoto, quienes también militaban en el FMLN.
Ambos asesinatos fueron ejecutados en un estilo propio a los Escuadrones de la Muerte, grupos armados clandestinos que funcionaron con impunidad durante la guerra en El Salvador. El hecho que cada vez es más y más frecuente este estilo de asesinato, junto con el reaparecimiento de grupos de limpieza social como la Sombra Negra y el Comando Central Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, y denuncias de grupos de exterminio dentro de la Policía Nacional Civil, apunta a un peligroso retroceso en el respeto a los derechos humanos en El Salvador. Todo ello es aún más alarmante cuando la represión política va en aumento y las ejecuciones parecieran ser deliberadamente en contra de activistas políticos de izquierda.
Por lo tanto, le pido que la Fiscalía General de la República efectúe una pronta y profunda investigación de estos casos y que por ningún motivo queden en la impunidad. Además, la Fiscalía General de la República deberá investigar los móviles políticos detrás de estos asesinatos y no descartarlos de antemano como suele hacer. Estaré al tanto del desarrollo de la investigación, así como el posterior enjuiciamiento de los culpables, y mantendré mis congresistas informados sobre la represión política en El Salvador.
Atentamente,
_______________
English version of sample fax (send Spanish version)
To: Mr. Félix Garrid Safie
Attorney General of the Republic of El Salvador
011-503-2249 - 8607
August 29, 2006
Dear Mr. Félix Garrid Safie,
I write you to express my grave concern with regards to the murders of Alex Flores Montoya and Mercedes Peñate de Montoya this past Wednesday, August 23rd. The couple, both of whom were recognized FMLN leaders, were killed with a single shot to the head and abandoned in the neighborhood of San Isidro, in the municipality of Coatepeque. They leave behind their 3 children, who are 17, 21 and 25 years old. These killings come just weeks after the brutal assassination on July 1st of the Manzanares, both of whom were also militants in the FMLN.
Both murders were carried out in the style of the death squads, armed clandestine groups that operated with impunity during the war in El Salvador. The fact that this type of murder is more and more frequent, as well as the resurgence of social cleansing groups like the Sombra Negra and the Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez Central Commando and the denouncements of extermination groups within the ranks of the National Civilian Police, all point to a dangerous setback in the respect for human rights in El Salvador. All of this is even more alarming when political repression in on the rise and these executions appear to be deliberately targeting political activists on the left.
Because of this, I ask the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic carry out a prompt and thorough investigation into these cases and that they are not left in impunity for any reason. Furthermore, the Attorney General’s Office should investigate the political motives behind these killings and not discard them a priori as is usual the case. I will be following the development of the investigations, as well as the subsequent judicial case against those responsible, and maintain my congressmen and women informed about political repression in El Salvador.
Sincerely,
_______________
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