Anti-Militarism: News & Updates

El Salvador has seen a tragic return to some of the country’s most violent years. At least 80 people were killed on the weekend of March 26-27, and in response, President Nayib Bukele quickly summoned the Legislative Assembly, which in the early hours following the killing spree declared a state of emergency for 30 days. The move effectively suspended some human rights, such as the right to a defense, knowing the charges against you, the right not to incriminate yourself and having access to a lawyer. The decree also suspended the right to freedom of assembly and association and allows the government to intercept private communications without a court order. Discrediting the opinions of human rights activists who have been working to promote and protect human rights in El Salvador for decades is little more than a cheap tactic designed to distract from the policies that, by action or omission, are impeding the country from tackling the wave of violence that is destroying so many lives. Strengthening the judiciary, particularly the special prosecutors in charge of investigating complex crimes by allocating sufficient resources and personnel so they can carry out their work effectively and independently, for example, is one of the policies the country should put in place to break up the gangs.

Men, women and children have been rounded up across the Central American country since the government declared a state of emergency on 27 March, suspending constitutional rights including the presumption of innocence. President Nayib Bukele has said that the detainees are all gang members and that they will not be released. While the police claim to have captured the MS-13 leaders who ordered the killings, there is mounting evidence that ordinary people who live or work in gang-dominated neighbourhoods have been arrested arbitrarily.

Last week, the aforementioned body approved a decision to set up a group of three experts to investigate possible human rights violations in the Central American country since April 2018. The Professor of Law at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua) emphasized that the aforementioned council has little legitimacy when dealing with the human rights agenda. Gonzalez described this agenda as colonial, adding that it was a strategy to discredit left-wing governments in the region.

Fifty social leaders were assassinated in Colombia from January this year onwards, the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) confirmed. According to an early warning issued by the Ombudsman’s Office in 2018 for the municipalities of Mapiripan and Puerto Concordia, the presidents of Community Action Boards and governors of indigenous reservations are populations at risk.

Witness for Peace and other organizations were honored to lead a Congressional delegation that included Representatives Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Cori Bush (MO-01), Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) – as well as representation from the office of Jan Schakowsky (IL-09). The delegation was coordinated alongside other U.S.-based solidarity organizations, including SOA Watch, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, and the Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program.

The Biden administration will end Trump-era pandemic restrictions that effectively blocked migrants from entering the United States on May 23, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday. Former President Donald Trump invoked a public health authority, known as Title 42, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, a move that was immediately met with skepticism by immigrant advocates, public health experts, and even officials within the administration who believed it to be driven by political motivations. Yet the Biden administration continued to lean on Title 42 despite objections from its allies.