Nov
Human Rights, Sister Cities
Search Warrants of NGOs Update and Solidarity Statement
This post is an update on the events that unfolded on November 22, where NGOs were targeted and searched by the National Police at District Attorney of El Salvador. These were some of the first actions observed since the Foreign Agents Law was proposed, where the Bukele Administration began to require a 40% tax from organizations deemed to be a threat to national security. Read our previous post to get up to speed.
Yesterday the National Police and District Attorney stayed at the offices of Las Melidas (a women’s rights organization) and PRO-VIDA (a humanitarian organization that has supported water committees in rural areas) until early this morning. According to both Las Melidas and PRO-VIDA, officials took original accounting documentation and wiped their hard drives.
According to Las Melidas, the documentation that officials took was validated and sealed by the Ministry of Government. Now they are lacking documentation that may be necessary if there are future judicial demands. In addition to this, officials demanded documents that where from projects that did not use public funds.
During the beginning of the raid at Las Melidas, officials forced some women who were visiting from other communities for a training to stay locked on the premises.
This is a clear violation of human rights.
Late Tuesday, the Association of Women from Santa Tecla (Asociación de Mujeres Tecleñas) released a statement in which they claim:
The Attorney General’s Office seized from us the original information on the legal operation of the association, statutes, credentials, bank consolidations and two computers, which contains all the information on the projects executed and in execution by the association. As much as we insisted that the prosecution provide us with a copy of the record stating that this information was taken, nothing was given to us.
For all of those reasons, USESSC releases the following statement:
Statement of Solidarity
The U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities network stands in solidarity with the humanitarian organizations Pro-Vida, Las Melidas, PROCOMES, FUNDASPAD, Una Mano Amiga, Asociación de Mujeres Tecleñas and FUNDASAN after search warrents of their offices were issued by the Salvadoran State through the District Attorney’s Office and the national police.
We condemn these acts of harassment and abuse of power towards civil society organizations working to build a more just and democratic El Salvador.
As an organization committed to international solidarity we will continue to denounce any act of violation of human rights and to the detriment of organized communities, just as we have done for more than 35 years.
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Comunicado
La red de Ciudades Hermanas El Salvador-Estados Unidos se solidariza con la Asociación Salvadoreña de Ayuda Humanitaria Pro-Vida, Las Mélidas, PROCOMES, FUNDASPAD, Una Mano Amiga, Asociación de Mujeres Tecleñas y FUNDASAN ante las órdenes de allanamiento a sus oficinas por parte de Estado Salvadoreño a través de la FGR y la PNC.
Condenamos estos hechos de hostigamiento y abuso de poder hacia las organizaciones de la sociedad civil que trabajan por la construcción de un El Salvador justo y democrático.
Como solidaridad internacional nos mantendremos denunciando cualquier acto de violación a los Derechos Humanos y en perjuicio de las comunidades organizadas, así como lo hemos hecho por más de 35 años.
