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Archives: July 2007
El Salvador: Spectre of War Looms After 15 Years of Peace
SAN SALVADOR - Violent clashes between the police and demonstrators are sounding alarm bells for the peaceful coexistence that was achieved in El Salvador in the 1990s after 12 years of civil war, say human rights lawyers, analysts and activists.
The armed conflict that broke out in 1980 came to an end with the signing of the peace accords, but now "the rule of law and respect for human rights are crumbling," one observer said.
The government of former President Alfredo Cristiani (1989-1994) and the leftwing guerrillas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front ((FMLN) signed a peace accord in Mexico in 1992 which provided for the demilitarisation and democratisation of society, respect for basic rights and the rule of law.
Some points of the accord have been fulfilled, acknowledge political and religious leaders, particularly in regard to changes in the armed forces, and the creation of some limited space for democracy, but they are not optimistic and warn that backward motion on the peace agreement is endangering the process that began 15 years ago.
Against this background, David Morales of Tutela Legal (Legal Guardians), a human rights agency of the Roman Catholic Church, told IPS that "the police attack on Jul. 2 was arbitrary, and reflects an authoritarian attitude."
That day, 12 members of social organisations and one journalist were arrested and accused of "acts of terrorism" after violent incidents in Suchitoto, a tourist centre 47 kilometres from San Salvador.
The National Civil Police (PNC) used "disproportionate force," injuring at least 100 protesters and residents, he added.
Morales also reported that according to the testimony of Tutela Legal lawyers and relatives of those arrested, some of them were subjected to psychological torture while being transported in a police helicopter.
"The PNC beat, threatened and tortured several detainees, swerving the helicopter around in such a way that the handcuffed prisoners slid towards the doors, and were in danger of falling out" high above the ground, said Morales, a former assistant prosecutor for the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman.
Upon landing, "the police carried out simulated summary executions," he said.
The people who were arrested had participated along with hundreds of residents and activists from civil society organizations in a protest in Suchitoto, where President Antonio Saca was to announce a plan to decentralize drinking water services.
Critics of the government plan, however, said it was an attempt to privatize water distribution.
Demonstrators blocked the roads along which the members of the government and the diplomatic corps would approach the town. They were attacked by a PNC anti-riot squad.
The protest stopped the official rally, and the president had to leave by helicopter in the wake of the violence which disturbed the almost permanent peace of Suchitoto, a colonial city founded in 1525, with stone-paved streets and houses with white walls and red-tiled roofs, which is a popular tourist destination.
A local television channel broadcast images of the police action, which showed how the vehicle carrying Lorena Martínez, one of the organizers of the protest, was intercepted by the police and its driver violently removed and thrown onto the road, on the pretext that he had obstructed the passage of the police.
Martínez, president of the Association of Rural Communities for the development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), and her vice president Rosa María Valle, were arrested when they complained about this treatment. So was Haydée Chicas, who was filming the incident, although she shouted repeatedly that she was a journalist.
The arrests took place when the women and the driver were on their way to Suchitoto to participate in the demonstration.
Another video, which was not broadcast on local media, shows demonstrators asking the PNC not to use force, while they advanced on and manhandled the residents.
The anti-riot squad police are seen using their truncheons, tear gas and rubber bullets. Some police officers hit one of the detainees on the head several times while he was vomiting from the effects of the tear gas.
The video also shows protesters retaliating by throwing rocks at police as two helicopters overfly the area.
Photographer Luis Galdámez of the Reuters news agency, the only foreign correspondent present on the scene, saw several army vehicles with high-calibre machine guns. He was also beaten by police, although he told them he was a journalist and showed his press credentials.
Last weekend all the detainees, bar one, were provisionally sent to prison for up to three months by Judge Lucila Fuentes, on charges of "acts of terrorism." The prosecution, meanwhile, is seeking more evidence.
If the accused are found guilty, they could be liable to prison sentences of up to 60 years, according to the anti-terrorist law in force since October 2006.
CRIPDES leaders Bernardo Belloso and Pedro Juan Hernández told IPS that the arrests "are part of a policy of state terrorism by the Saca administration against any protest by social organizations."
"In El Salvador, fighting for a solution to the communities' problems, and against water privatization, is interpreted by this government as a terrorist act," they said.
Political scientist Napoleón Campos said that these events reflect "a notorious deterioration in political coexistence, since the basic conditions for mediation have broken down."
"We are entering into a very serious situation, generated as much by the left as by the right," he told IPS. What has happened must be interpreted within the context of a campaign in advance of the next presidential elections, which has already begun although elections are not due until early 2009, he said.
Campos said that the demonstration in Suchitoto was not exactly a peaceful protest, as roads were blocked and the protesters threw stones, but that the irrational use of force by the PNC and the charges of terrorism against the detainees were also reprehensible.
The expert disagreed with statements by social leaders to the effect that their colleagues are "political prisoners." He said that was "to exaggerate the case."
Counsel for the Ombudsman's Human Rights Office, Oscar Luna, and vice president of the National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP), Carmen de Alfaro, also said in an interview on television that the detainees may be accused of other crimes, but not of "acts of terrorism."
The El Salvador Association of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF - Reporters Sans Frontières) condemned the arrest of journalist Chicas, and called for her immediate release.
"The detention of Chicas represents a grave abuse of authority. It is ridiculous and dangerous to claim that someone who was just doing her job as a journalist was caught in the act of 'terrorism,'" an RSF communiqué said.
In the middle of the week, President Saca announced that he would "gladly" review the case.
Tutela Legal's Morales is adamant that the anti-terrorist law is being used to criminalize those who protest against the government. In his view, Judge Fuentes' ruling demonstrates the existence of "biddable judges in the service of the authoritarian model that is being set up in El Salvador."
In terms of respect for human rights, we have fallen badly behind what was achieved at the signing of the peace accords, Morales said.
The spectre of violence in this country, which is still in the process of recovering from a civil war that divided it for over a decade, has not returned only because of the disturbances of Jul. 2. It has deeper roots associated with the unhealed wounds of this society.
Months ago, the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, Gregorio Rosa Chávez, said that "since we signed the peace, poverty and unemployment have increased, and there is a great sense of insecurity among the people. We signed the peace, but we do not have reconciliation in the country."
"The government does not recognize that the causes (of violence) are linked to structural injustice, and that the injustice continues," the bishop complained. "Therefore we have another kind of war, and we see people dying every day."
Copyright (c) 2007 IPS-Inter Press Service.
Published on Thursday, July 19, 2007 by Inter Press Service
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TIME TO SIGN UP FOR SOA
ST. LOUIS INTER-FAITH COMMITTEE
ON LATIN AMERICA (IFCLA)
INVITES
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TO GO TO GEORGIA IN NOVEMBER
On the weekend of November 16-18,
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Resolution for Displaced in Colombia Passes Full House
We are delighted to tell you resolution 426 for displaced Colombians has passed the House of Representatives. The resolution, first introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern, brings renewed attention to the plight of the many Colombians violently displaced from their communities while also recommending an increase in humanitarian aid. Increasing aid in this way will give internally displaced persons a real opportunity to rebuild their lives in a dignified manner. However, the passage of this resolution is only one of many victories for peace and justice in Colombia in recent weeks.
After many years of advocating for change, we are thrilled to report the positive new approach to Colombia has recently been approved by the full House of Representatives. With all of your calls to the Congress, those who supported the old approach did not have the votes to turn back the clock.
The foreign aid bill cuts military aid to Colombia by $30 million while greatly increasing aid for poor farmers and victims. For example, Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities will receive $15 million in development aid planned in consultation with these communities.
The aid package aims to strengthen respect for human rights by providing judicial institutions with the resources they need to investigate abuses and collaboration with paramilitaries. Human rights conditions will now apply to 40 percent, not just 25 percent, of military aid in the bill.
Given the failure of aerial spraying to curb coca cultivation by even a single hectare in seven years, the House has also sensibly reduced funding for spray planes used to fumigate farms and increased aid for small farmers. It's not perfect? but it's a huge step in the right direction!
Now, we must shift our efforts to securing a positive new direction for Colombia on the Senate side. Since the foreign aid bill will be coming before the full Senate soon, now is the perfect time to contact your senator and ask them to support this new approach in aid to Colombia. Encourage them to provide greater assistance to help Colombia's victims of violence, to strengthen the justice system, and to provide real economic alternatives to small farmers. We are on a roll - let's keep the pressure on!
Best,
Travis and Lisa
Travis Wheeler
Lisa Haugaard
Latin America Working Group
www.lawg.org
twheeler@lawg.org
P.S. Special thanks are due to the Chair of the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, for her strong leadership in charting a new approach to aid to Colombia. Send a thank you to: The Honorable Nita Lowey, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.
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THOUGHTS AND A PRAYER FOR THE 4TH OF JULY
The Founding Fathers (excluding non-property owners, women, natives, and slaves) declared that they had reached a "consensus" for a new nation. However, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was reserved and guaranteed for only the colonial ruling class. What preceeded and followed this declaration was a genocide of the native peoples, slavery for Africans and indentured labor for those outside the chosen few.
After freeing themselves from the British Empire, the U.S. proceeded to create their own empire to expand markets for goods and guarantee a place in the world. Military power and might made this possible. Between 1798 and 1895, the U.S. made 103 interventions outside its borders. Since then at least 115 have been added to the list. Many have been in Latin American countries, but East Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East have experienced invasion and attack. The U.S. has acted with impunity under the banners of democracy and anti-whatever was the code word of the time: empire, fascism, communism, narcotrafficking, terrorism...
But this language just hides the racism, militarism and unbridled global capitalism which marginalizes all who do not fit into the visions and goals of the select few.
Martin Luther King, Jr. came to realize that a group's gaining civil rights did not guarantee their full human rights. In Latin America we have seen that peace does not guarantee justice. Without equal economic participation, no one really can realize their human and civil rights.
The work of IFCLA attempts to address these issues. Walking with the peoples of Central America who have welcomed us into their homes has opened our eyes to the deep rooted injustices which keep things the way they are and showed us that we must work for systemic change. The current immigration crisis shines a spotlight on impossible economic situations faced by hundreds of thousands of families; the rise in militarism shows the strength of the non-violent social movements; and the renewed language of threat and fear clarifies the nature of the coming conflicts.
Whether it is border enforcement and homeland security, free market global capitalism and privatization of basic resources, or “free” elections and corporately funded media, the “solutions” we are offered are the problem. We must seek new ways of challenging the status quo and create alternatives. Join IFCLA in this process. Read alternative sources. Talk with your friends and colleagues. Write letters to the editor. Send comments to the IFCLA email address. Let’s get a new movement for justice moving again.
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IFCO stopped at Canadian Border
IFCLA has welcomed IFCO caravans over the years...
Homeland Security Officials "Detain" Medical Supplies Destined for Cuba at Maine/Quebec Border Despite Earlier Successful Crossings Today With Five Tons of Medical Aid Collected by Canadians for Cuba.
The aid collected in Quebec by the Caravane d'amiti Quebec-Cuba and destined for maternity clinics and nursing homes in Cuba, included a breast pump for nursing mothers, stethoscopes, used eyeglasses, a Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) and surgical gowns.
Pastors for Peace spent six hours in a standoff with Homeland Security attempting to negotiate passage of the medical aid before the shipment was detained for thirty days to investigate its security threat to the U.S.
According to Greg Pease, (207- 297-2554) the Homeland Security officer in charge, he received=20 instructions not to permit anything in transit to Cuba into the U.S.
"This detention by Homeland Security is outrageous." said Rev. Lucius Walker, executive director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace. "While Cuba is offering full scholarships to U.S. students to study medicine in Cuba, the U.S. government is denying transit of such basic items as breast pumps and surgical gowns. Why does the Maine border patrol have and ax to grind over breast pumps and surgical gowns? The contradictions are incredibly mean-spirited."
"Actions like these illustrate even further the issues raised by Michael Moore's film SiCKO."
"This precious cargo, bound for Cuba was collected by Canadians who will link up with U.S. routes of the 18th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan. We intend to deliver these supplies to Cuba." added Rev. Walker.
This holiday weekend is the launch of the Friendshipment Caravan. Earlier crossings today into the U.S. from Vancouver into Blaine, WA and Winnipeg into Pembina ND occurred without incident.
Fourteen routes will stop in 125 U.S. cities, collecting aid and speaking out against the 45 year blockade of Cuba by the U.S. Over the course of two weeks, the Caravan expects to collect 100 tons of medical aid for Cuba.
On July 17, the Caravan intends to cross the U.S. border into Reynosa, Mexico. In past years, U.S. officials have attempted to seize the humanitarian aid it carried. According to Rev. Walker, anything is possible this year, given the continued antagonism by the Bush administration towards Cuba.
More information about the Pastors for Peace Caravan can be found at:
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