By Denver Justice & Peace Committee
On Friday September 2nd, the Committee of Family Members of Political Prisoners of El Salvador (COFAPPES) held a press conference in San Salvador to announce the delivery of letters to the Attorney General, Human Rights Ombudsman and to Supreme Court magistrates that CISPES had been circulating throughout the U.S.
The letters, signed by nearly 1,000 people and over 70 organizations, including the Denver Justice and Peace Committtee, added to the chorus of international voices expressing concern about the massive scale of human rights violations occurring in El Salvador under the State of Exception, an emergency measure suspending constitutional rights that has been renewed five times since March, leading to the arrests of over 50,000 people without warrants and the deaths of over 70 people in custody.
The letters also highlighted urgent and particular concerns about politically motivated arrests and persecution of members of the opposition that has been ramping up over the past year.
The good news? Our cross-border solidarity is making an impact. With headlines like "Public institutions urged to uphold the law," and "Attorney General and Court called to act impartially in judicial proceedings," the letters were covered in Salvadoran news outlets like La Prensa Gráfica, Diario CoLatino, and Diario El Mundo.
The news also circulated on Twitter, calling out the Attorney General, the Human Rights Ombudsperson and the Supreme Court magistrates directly.
As the members of COFAPPES wrote in their statement, "We have received three letters outlining a profound concern for what's happening today in the country regarding the breakdown in democracy and the Rule of Law, among them: political persecution, people being jailed without a conviction, and Human Rights violations...
"We thank all the friends and international organizations for this demonstration of genuine interest that in our country we can live in peace under the framework of constitutional law."
Read here the CISPES press release and calls for justice from several allies.
Together, we can make sure that the call to release of political prisoners, an end to political persecution and the protection of Salvadorans’ constitutional rights rings loud and clear.
¡Adelante!
If you want to learn more about the courageous work of the Committee of Family Members of Political Prisoners of El Salvador (COFAPPES),on their fight for the release of their loved ones and challenge the Bukele administration’s repression and political persecution against the popular opposition. Check out the recording of the Solidarity Teach-In Against State Repression in El Salvador on CISPES YouTube channel! (Unfortunately, Zoom does not allow us to record the interpretation so the recording has some parts in English and some parts in Spanish.)
