Oct
Human Rights, Politics
Bukele Deputies Open the Door to Prison Sentences for Those Organizing Marches
Lawyers suggest that they are “criminalizing social protest” and establishing a “regime of exception” or state of siege in El Salvador.
Artículo original en español aquí.
Written by Eugenia Velásquez of elsalvador.com
Translated by Sister Cities
On Wednesday, the Legislative Assembly approved a new initiative similar to the one that they recently extended until February 2022 to prohibit the concentrations of people, just days after the recent marches and protests against the government on September 15 and October 17.
In addition, this new provision states that whoever fails to comply with the measure would incur the “crime of disobedience of individuals” that in Art. 338 of the Penal Code establishes a prison sentence between 1 to 3 years and a fine of fifty to one hundred days for those who organize and call such events without the endorsement of the Ministry of Public Health.
According to the constitutional lawyer, Enrique Anaya, ordering the suspension of the right to protest and demonstration implies “establishing a regime of exception or a state of siege in the country. And all to avoid the marches against the confiscation of pension savings. In essence, what the corrupt and dictatorial regime is looking for is that we do not complain about the scandalous theft that will be made of our savings.”
The director of Citizen Action, Eduardo Escobar, questioned the measure calling it “cowardly,” a violation of free demonstration and freedom of expression of citizens, something that is “unconstitutional” because the right of the people to demonstrate is submitted to a “prior censorship,” Escobar criticized.
The deputy of the Nuestro Tiempo party, Johnny Wright, explained that the decree is clear evidence that for the government there are “favorite agglomerations and others that bother them.”
“A disguised decree to prevent the spread of Covid-19 with fines and criminal sanctions only for one type of concentration violates fundamental rights and equality for certain sectors. Article 3 of the Constitution of the Republic establishes that: All the people are equal before the law,” Wright said.
To make the restrictions effective, the Office of the Public Prosecutor is empowered to act ex officio and the National Civil Police to stop or suspend the entry of people to events of any nature that bring together several citizens.
“With this decree what they are generating is the criminalization of social protest, because they are pointing out that whoever violates this decree, the Prosecutor’s Office is authorized to proceed criminally against the person or with the people who do not comply,” Escobar said.
The measure would be in effect until December 8, 2021. The petition indicates that the prohibition is for any massive concentration of people, “without social distancing, where people without a complete vaccination record participate and where the established biosecurity protocols are not respected. by the Ministry of Health and the Government of El Salvador.”
“The danger it entails is that they are leading citizens to civil disobedience, they are forcing people to not abide by this norm and to gather despite the prohibition and this can generate legal problems and social conflict,” Escobar said.
The initiative of the ruling party indicates that in the other concentrations of people, masking, compliance with the biosafety protocol, social distancing and complete vaccination will be mandatory.
Public acts concerning artistic and cultural activities or those that are classified as cultural promotion activities and sporting events and sports or culture promotion are excepted from this rule.
