URGENT ACTION UPDATE: Youth Activists Sentenced to 4 Years Prison, Unfair Trial

On Wednesday, March 26th, 11 young community leaders, including 2 Sister City scholarship students – Geovanni and Emerson – were sentenced to 4 years in prison for “illicit organization,” which is another way of accusing them of being gang members. While Geovany and Emerson where well known within Sister Cities and other international organizations because of their help during delegations and their Sister Cities scholarship status, the other 9 young men were of equal character and deeply involved in organizing work within their community, the MPR-12, and the FMLN.

 

Legal Situation: Updated May 8, 2014

The young men have languished in one of El Salvador´s most notorious prisons, Mariona, since March 26. On Friday, May 2, their team of lawyers presented an appeal to the conviction. While the lawyers and other legal experts have high hopes of good news, the young men remain in prison until the judges review the appeal and issue a decision, a process that is not known for being particularly speedy here in El Salvador.

 

Many Sister Cities delegations have met Geovani from the trainings we have asked him to give on a variety of topics; the electoral observation delegations have received vests made by the women’s sewing co-op from Emerson’s community.These 11 young men, including Geovani and Emmerson, are from an organized community called El Progress 3, on the marginalized outskirts of San Salvador.  This community is part of an area organized by a member organization of the MPR-12, the Popular Resistance Movement of October 12th, of which CRIPDES is also an active member.

 

The case began in the Organized Crime Specialized Courthouse, an entity supported by the United States, and was created by the Anti- Terrorist law modeled on the US Patriot Act that was passed here by then-ARENA President Tony Saca. The law has previously been used to prosecute 14 CRIPDES leaders in 2007, (unsuccessfully, thanks to a massive advocacy campaign).

This time, Geovanni and Emerson were arrested on unfounded charges of gang involvement in late 2012, but escaped incarceration through a mixture of luck, hiding for three months, and advocacy efforts. However, their case went on throughout 2013.

 

Due to combination of lack of evidence and good lawyers, the case was thrown out of the Specialized Court, when it proceeded to the “normal” judicial system. It was at this point that the MPR-12, CRIPDES, and Sister Cities dropped the ball. Overwhelmed with electoral preparations, we fell into the mistake of believing that because the Funes Administration has brought a lot of reforms and because Geovanni and Emerson were so responsible in appearing for their court dates, and especially because the case literally had no hard evidence nor eyewitnesses, that the case would be decided in their favor.

 

Instead, it was a sad day and a stunning phone call to receive from these young men’s family members that they had been sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment.

Now we are in the midst of the appeals process, where the main struggle will be to get the entire decision annulled and call for a retrial. This legal process will also be accompanied by coordinated actions by the social movement.

 

Most people have been asking: what happened? How could this happen with Funes in power, and another FMLN government has just been elected. Wasn’t this supposed to bring changes?

 

The answer is a frustrating one. Although the FMLN has been in power for 5 years, the judicial system remains firmly in the hands of the right-wing ARENA party, beginning at the top. The Salvadoran Supreme Court and its Constitutional Chamber are made up of four magistrates, appointed by the National Assembly for 9 years of service. The current court was appointed during the ARENA dominated Legislative session during Tony Saca’s presidential term.

As for this specific case, there is much reason to believe that it is motivated by personal and political vendettas. El Progresso 3 is a community that was once heavily right wing and heavily male-leadership dominated. Thanks to the organizing efforts of the MPR-12 member organization and the FMLN, women’s leadership improved and the current community council is now headed by leftist women. Every woman on that council now has a son or relative currently incarcerated.

The police presence in the poverty and violence stricken community personally knew the sentenced young people and their organizing activities. They were present at every organizing event – be it sports, theater, or music, taking pictures and questioning the leaders afterwards, and could produce no evidence of their involvement with gang members other than being from the same community as them. No witnesses were allowed to testify on behalf of the young people, and the only witnesses introduced on the prosecution were the arresting officer and several “anonymous” secondhand accounts. This, combined with the sentencing date only days after the FMLN presidential victory was officially confirmed, leads the MPR-12 to believe that the court’s actions were politically motivated and supported by the aggrieved ex Progresso 3 community council members.

 

Please stay ready and waiting for any urgent actions we send out in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Cori at cori.sistercities@gmail.com

Read the press release from the initial arrest in January 2013 here.