Journalists and Priest recieve threats due to their advocacy: July 29, 2009

The situation for political and social leaders in the Department of Cabanas has worsened since Marcelo Rivera’s disappearance and murder in early July.

The week of July 27th, 2009, three to four journalists from Radio Victoria, a local radio station that was reporting on Rivera’s disappearance, received intensifying death threats.

On July 28th, Father Luis Quintanilla, the Catholic Priest who works in the region of Cabanas, escaped four armed men who attempted to kidnap and assassinate him, after also having received death threats.

On July 29th, a community leader from the town of Santa Marta and the director of the Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES) both received death threats.

Below are the ADES press releases describing the cases.

Priest in Cabanas is the Victim of Assassination Attempt

Father Luis Quintanilla, catholic Priest committed to the defense and promotion of human rights, has been the victim of physical aggression, death threats and an attempt to kidnap and assassinate him on Monday July 28^th , 2009.

The Priest, who was driving his vehicle on the road from the City of Victoria to Sensuntepeque (Department of Cabanas), was intercepted by four armed and masked men, who took him from his vehicle with the intention to kidnap and murder him. However the criminals did not achieve their objective, and the Priest was able to escape by jumping into a ravine.

This incident happened one month after the kidnapping, torture and murder of the environmental activist and social leader Gustavo Marcelo Rivera, and only a few days after the public denouncement of the death threats received by four Radio Victoria reporters.

Father Luis Quintanilla, like Marcelo Rivera and the journalists of Radio Victoria, has played a protagonist role in the defense of human rights and the opposition to all projects against the environment and democracy, like mining exploitation and electoral fraud in San Isidro.

Like the reporters in Radio Victoria, in recent days the Priest had receive phone messages that threatened him with death, some of them said “there will be an end to the damned reds dressed up as priests” and “Keep quiet if you don’t want what happened to Marcelo to happen to you,” making reference to the assassination of Marcelo Rivera and demonstrating the ties between these incidents of intimidation.

Similar to the previous violations, we point to the ultra-right groups that are tied to organized crime that attempt to spread fear in the population of the Department and kill social leaders and political and environmental activists. The negligence of the Attorney General and the Police on the Departmental level favors, reinforces and protects this violence.

One more time, the population and social organizations demands that the competent authorities and new government guarantee the life and physical integrity of the citizens and do an exhaustive investigation of these cases.

To the international community, we ask for your attention in confronting these political persecutions that the citizens of El Salvador suffer, and support in denouncing and pressuring the Salvadoran authorities for the completion of the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Asociación de Desarrollo Económico y Social – ADES Santa Marta
http://adessantamarta.codigosur.net

                                Community Radio Journalists Receive Death Threats

Sensuntepeque, July 27, 2009. .

Journalists of community radio station Radio Victoria have recently received death threats for their work and education in promoting human rights and the environment. The threats are not new to the journalists and the media community but have increased considerably since local elections were held in January this year.

As of July 23 2009, four community reporters began receiving letters and telephone messages in which they were threatened to be the “next on the list” and that “we also spoke in San Isidro “making a clear reference to the link between these events and the disappearance and murder of colleague Marcelo Gustavo Rivera.

As part of his journalistic work, Radio Victoria informs the public of the Department of Cabañas in El Salvador and, generally, the broad resistance movement against mining operations which would serve to profit Canadian company Pacific Rim. The radio team also covered the issue of voter fraud in the San Isidro elections in January this year and the recent disappearance and death of environmentalist and social activist Gustavo Marcelo Rivera.
The threats mentioned explicitly the authors’ frustrations around the constant media coverage of public complaints of abuses and arbitrary actions committed in San Isidro and Cabanas. These new developments threaten the lives of young journalists, one of whom is a minor, and represent a violation of human rights of the reporters and all who work in defense of human rights. It is also evidence of the impunity the local government is willing to offer to those who threaten and terrorize the population within Cabanas. The negligence of the attorney general’s office and the PNC (National Civilian Police), institutions responsible for the welfare and security of the population, contributes to the perpetration of these violations.

Communities and individuals, together with various social organizations, are requiring a thorough investigation of these serious incidents by competent authorities of the new government and are also demanding investigation into the intellectual and material motivation behind the murder of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera.

These groups also demand that the international community remain committed to ending the political persecution suffered by the Salvadoran people by denouncing these acts of violence and putting pressure on Salvadoran authorities to establish the rule of law and respect for human rights in El Salvador.

Association for Social and Economic Development – Santa MartaTel ADES. http://adessantamarta.codigosur.net