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IRTF Summer Solidarity Social 2024
August 9, 2024

We look forward to gathering lots of IRTF friends at our annual Summer Solidarity Social.  Join us for live music, spoken word, light refreshments, report updates from IRTF staff and friends.

Special Guest from San Salvador: Leslie Schuld from CIS (Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad) speaking on current challenges to democracy in El Salvador, namely mass incarceration and the suspension of constitutional rights. She will highlight the Campaign to Release the Innocents of Isla Espíritu Santo from Arbitrary Detention and give an update on the Campaign to Free the Santa Marta 5 water defenders.

Join us on Friday, August 9, 2024, 6:30-8:30pm at St Paul’s Community Church UCC, 4427 Franklin Blvd, Cleveland OH 44113. Location: backyard. Rain location: gym

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News Article
Demand transparency & accountability to promote democracy and defend human rights – please support IRTF
July 28, 2024

Your financial gifts support IRTF’s crucial work to address long-standing structural injustices and bolster our across-borders solidarity movement. We hope you’ll consider making a tax-deductible gift to IRTF. We rely on individual gifts for more than 80% of our small budget. Thank you for your consideration. 

IRTF was founded in Cleveland, OH, in 1981to call people here in the U.S. into solidarity with the people of Central America to promote peace, justice, human rights, and systemic transformation through nonviolence. Four decades later, the people of Central America face formidable challenges like the rolling back of democratic advances, forced displacement from communal and ancestral lands, and attacks on human rights defenders—harassment, threats, false criminalization, and violence (including assasssination). Our solidarity is as important now as ever.

How to donate

IRTF, 3606 Bridge Ave., Cleveland OH 44113. @irtfcleveland PayPal or Venmo. https://www.facebook.com/irtf.cleveland. https://www.irtfcleveland.org/donate

Sustaining gifts: Please consider a monthly gift. Even $5 per month makes a big impact for a nonprofit with a modest budget like ours. Click here to donate.

Thank you!

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News Article
El Salvador: Demand the Release of Arbitrarily Arrested Residents of Isla Espíritu Santo
July 22, 2024

In El Salvador, there’s a small island known as Isla El Espíritu Santo, or the "Coconut Island." The island's small population relies on coconut crops and lives relatively isolated from the mainland. Two years ago, President Nayib Bukele's State of Exception began to target the islanders through arbitrary arrests.

Goals of Release the Innocents Campaign:

(1) Release the Innocents, (2) Allow Families to See Their Loved Ones in Prison, (3) Restore Due Process and Presumption of Innocence, (4) Reach Congressional audiences

Between May 13, 2022 and April 28, 2023, 25 islanders were arrested without a proper warrant and accused of criminal activities, even though the island has not historically experienced gang violence. Here are profiles of four of the victims of President Bukele’s crackdown on crime:

Cristian Donely Ruiz Pineda. age 44. shoemaker, fisherman, and builder. married with two daughters and a grandson. arbitrarily arrested in his home around 8:30 p.m. on July 3, 2022. 

José Samuel Pérez Perdomo. age 60. a dedicated boat driver for CIS high school and university scholarship students since 2011. arbitrarily arrested on May 13, 2022; has been moved to the prison medical center in Izalco, suffering from mental and physical illnesses

Fabricio Isaac Fuentes López. age 24. arbitrarily arrested on July 18, 2022, despite Fabricio’s protests and clean record.

Eidi Roxana Claros de Zaldaña. age 44. a rival taxi group accused Sandra, a taxi owner, of collaborating with gangs. arbitrarily arrested on April  28, 2023; Eidi was arrested after intervening on Sandra’s behalf. Fortunately, Sandra was released, but Eidi remains in prison.

 

TAKE ACTION

-See the social media toolkit to tag top officials in El Salvador

-Become informed with recent articles and posts

-Stay tuned for alerts to urge your congressperson to sign the Dear Colleague letter

-Attend the Summer Solidarity Social on August 9 in Cleveland, Ohio, with guest speaker Leslie Schuld from the CIS in El Salvador

 

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News Article
Migrant Justice Newsletter JUL 2024
July 17, 2024

The United States has long been a destination of migrants from around the world seeking safety and new opportunities. The image of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty welcoming “the poor huddled masses” is ingrained in our collective memory and culture.

Yes, there are many coming to our southern border seeking safety. Many of those come from countries whose people have been negatively impacted by US economic and military policies. They come here because we went there.

While the US was the world’s largest recipient of new asylum applications in 2023 (1.2 million), it is desperately trying to deter migrants from seeking refuge here. On June 4, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new plans to “secure our border.” It bars migrants from even asking for asylum. The unwelcoming attitude that the US presents toward migrants is illustrated not only by Biden’s recent asylum ban and the monthly increase in US migrant detention, now standing at 38,525.

In IRTF’s July 2024 Migrant Justice newsletter, please read about (1)   Asylum Processing at the US-Mexico Border, (2) ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends, (3)  Migrants in Colombia: Between Government Absence and Criminal Control, (4) At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border, (5) Honduras plans to build a 20,000-capacity ‘megaprison’ for gang members as part of a crackdown, (6) Thousands of displaced residents in southern Mexico fear returning to their homes after violence, (7) Danger in the Darién Gap: Human Rights Abuses and the Need for Humane Pathways to Safety, (8) America Turned Against Migrant Detention Before. We Can Do It Again, (9)  Asylum claims are down over 40% in Mexico, and (10) UN Refugee Agency Global Trends Report 2023.

Then take a few minutes to read what you can do to take action this week in solidarity with migrants and their families. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.)

A) Act Now for welcoming, dignified and just immigration policies

B) Root Causes: Stop Deportation Flights to Haiti

C) Root Causes: Restore Asylum for LGBTQ+ Refugees in Danger

D) Think Globally. Act Locally: Help Migrants and Refugees in Cleveland

Read the full newsletter at https://www.irtfcleveland.org/blog/migrant-justice-newsletter-jul-2024

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News Article
El Salvador: Rights Violations Against Children in State of Emergency
July 16, 2024

El Salvador’s state of emergency, declared in March 2022, has led to severe human rights violations against children of low-income communities. Many children have been doubly victimized by gang members who abused them and then by security forces who detained and mistreated them, with possible lifelong consequences. The government should end its abusive approach and prioritize a rights-respecting policy that dismantles criminal gangs, addresses child recruitment, and provides children with protection and opportunities.

In a 107-page report released on July 16, 2024, Human Rights Watch documents arbitrary detention, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment against children under President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs.” Detained children have often faced overcrowding, lack of adequate food and health care, and have been denied access to their lawyers and family members. In some cases, children have been held, in the first days after arrest, alongside adults. Many have been convicted on overly broad charges and in unfair trials that deny due process.

Click here for a link to the full report.

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RRN Letter
Guatemala, 7/16/2024
July 16, 2024

For two decades, award-winning, anti-corruption journalist José Rubén Zamora has been subjected to threats, physical violence, and now false criminalization.

In June 2003, Zamora and his family were held hostage in their home in Guatemala City for hours by a group of assailants who beat Zamora's children and forced him to strip and kneel at gunpoint.  In August 2008, Zamora was kidnapped and beaten after a dinner with friends and was left unconscious and nearly naked in Chimaltenango, about 16 miles away. Due to the threats he faced as a journalist, the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) ordered precautionary (protective) measures for him twenty years ago. 

In July 2022—five days after local media outlets published strong criticism of various officials of President Giammattei’s administration involved in corruption—Zamora was arrested on questionable charges of money laundering, blackmail, and influence peddling. The judge who ordered the imprisonment of Zamora two years ago said it was because of his work at the newspaper El Periódico, which specialized in anti-corruption reporting.

Finally, after nearly two years of detention (with reports of torture and solitary confinement), a judge ordered him to house arrest in May 2024. But prosecutors persisted, and on June 25 an appeals court granted their request to overturn the order. So Zamora remains in pretrial detention.

In May, the Gabo Foundation—whose governing council consists of respected journalists from Spain, the US, the Caribbean and Latin America—announced that Zamora would be presented the 2024 Recognition of Excellence for his tireless fight to “reveal corruption and human rights abuses” at their awards ceremony in Bogotá on July 5.

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RRN Letter
Honduras, 7/15/2024
July 15, 2024

The people of Honduras are experiencing a nationwide pattern of increased violence towards campesino communities.

In June, 300 campesino families in the community of La Guacamaya, located south of El Progreso in Yoro Department, suffered physical violence and forced eviction at the hands of the Honduran National Police and the Commission of Agrarian Security and Access to Land (CSA). Ostensibly created to review the legal status of properties and to guarantee the security and food sovereignty of rural Hondurans, the CSA has instead violated the human rights of the very people it is supposed to protect. The eviction of La Guacamaya is one of at least 24 forced evictions carried out by the CSA since its creation in June 2023, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OACNUDH). 

Over a two-day period, the National Police, the Police Investigation Directorate (DPI) and the militarized “Cobras” Special Forces used heavy machinery owned by the sugar company AZUNOSA (Azucarera del Norte) to destroy the  campesinos’ modest houses (built with wood, sheets of zinc, and pieces of plastic), their few possessions, and food crops—ruining their livelihoods and forcing them to live without shelter and means of subsistence. During the violent eviction, the security forces assaulted some of the residents, including women, children and the elderly.  Police also used physical violence against journalists to prevent them from covering this incident.

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RRN Letter
Colombia, 7/14/2024
July 14, 2024

We are deeply saddened to learn of the assassination Yoli María Toloza Cardoza, who served on the coordinating team of the Popular Women's Organization (OFP) in Puerto Wilches, Santander Department.  On June 27 at 11:00 a.m., two armed men traveling on a motorcycle entered her home in Puerto Wilches.  Without saying a word they shot her in the forehead.

The 52-year-old grew up there and became well-known and respected throughout Puerto Wilches and the Magdalena Medio region because of her ccommitment to advancing women's rights. Her home is located directly in front of the headquarters of the regional OFP chapter, where she also maintained a clothing workshop. The fact that Yoli María Toloza Cardoza was murdered in her own home so close to the OFP office underscores the danger faced by those advocating for justice and equality in the Magdalena Medio region.

OFP is a close partner of CPT(Community Peacemaker Teams) in Colombia’s Magdalena Medio region; CPT is a close partner of IRTF Cleveland. We extend our profound condolences to the members of OFP and CPT-Colombia.

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RRN Letter
Colombia, 7/13/2024
July 13, 2024

We are deeply concerned for the safety of Indigenous elders who steward ancestral, regional, and social wisdom. On the morning of June 25, Nasa Indigenous ancestral scholar Luis Eduardo Vivas was shot five times at the Mosoco reservation (Resguardo Indígena Mosoco), north of the municipality of Páez, Cauca Department.  A note was found with his body that read "every witch is cleansed."

The assassination of Luis Eduardo Vivas puts the wisdom, worldview, spirituality and territoriality of Indigenous peoples at risk. Ancestral knowers (sabedores ancestrales) are the guardians of this ancestral knowledge; their persecution threatens the disappearance of practices and knowledge that have been transmitted from generation to generation. The targeting of violence against ancestral knowers generates a crisis in the knowledge of biodiversity and medicinal plants. There is a great need for cooperation among the State, Indigenous organizations, and civil society groups to ensure that the rights, customs, and critical knowledge of Indigenous peoples are protected and respected.

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RRN Letter
Honduras, 7/12/2024
July 12, 2024

In December 2023, the Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) called a popular assembly at which more than 2,000 local residents flatly rejected projects that are threatening the environment by three companies that have interlocking ownership: Emco Holdings (thermal electric generation), Inversiones Los Pinares (iron oxide mine), and Ecotek (pelletizing plant).  Six months later, the mayor of Tocoa in Colón Department collaborated with Ecotek to hold their own “cabildo abierto” (town hall meeting). The result? At a meeting without quorum or proper discussion—underming the democratic process and the will of local communities who have already demonstrated strong opposition to the project—the controversial energy plant was approved. 

The CMDBCPT contends that Mayor Adán Fúnez’s “open” meeting on June 13 was nothing more than a display of abuse of power and intimidation, reinforced by the presence of police and military forces in the community the night before.

 

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