Uphold October 18 Ruling of Innocence in Trial of Five Prominent Water Defenders

San Salvador – On October 28, the Salvadoran Attorney General opted to appeal the historic verdict in the trial of the five prominent Salvador water defenders, who were arrested on trumped-up charges back in January 2023.

On October 18, the presiding tribunal in the Salvadoran trial of the five leading Salvadoran Water Defenders ruled that all five are completely innocent of the two sham charges of murder and illicit association that were laid against them.

Read the official statement in Spanish and translated into English from the Santa Marta, El Salvador community, whose community leaders were among those on trial, in response to the announcement of the appeal.

The statement denounces the "attempt by the Salvadoran Attorney General's Office to continue using the judicial system to persecute environmental activism and manipulate restorative and transitional justice to criminalize environmental defenders who warn about the serious dangers of mining.”

On November 1, 14 international organizations that have played a vital role in an international solidarity campaign to highlight the sham charges and who released a statement on the October 18 verdict issued the following comment in response to the announcement of the appeal:

We applaud the October 18 verdict by the tribunal in the Sensuntepeque Sentencing Court that found no evidence of a crime and declared the five water defenders innocent and freed them. We condemn the Attorney General's October 28 appeal of this very clear verdict. We urge the Appeals Court to uphold the law and reaffirm the innocence of the five Salvadoran water defenders.

The presiding tribunal in the Sensuntepeque Sentencing Court ruled that prosecutors did not provide evidence of the existence of a crime, could not link the defendants to the alleged crime, and that the alleged crime itself did not classify  as a crime against humanity or a war crime.

Despite that clear ruling that there was no basis for prosecution of the five and that there was no crime committed, the Salvadoran Attorney General is persisting in his attempt to unjustly persecute these five prominent community leaders, who were instrumental in the historic 2017 law that prohibits metallic mining in El Salvador and who have continued to be instrumental in ongoing efforts to protect Salvadoran communities and preserve local natural resources.

This further underscores our concerns that the Bukele administration is seeking to bring back mining to the country, and might even overturn the law that prohibits mining to generate foreign investment from transnational mining corporations.

It is vital that justice continues to prevail. As leading international organizations, we join the Santa Marta community in calling on the Cojutepeque Criminal Chamber to reaffirm the ruling of innocence by the Sentencing Court of Sensuntepeque.

That carefully considered ruling is a positive signal of judicial independence in El Salvador, and to reaffirm it on the same basis would further ensure that the law is applied fairly and in support of justice, honoring and upholding the values of a fair trial. We encourage the Salvadoran justice administrators to foster greater judicial independence and to implement policies that defend environmental activism in line with international treaties on the protection of human rights.

Rather than insisting on prolonging this process any further, the Attorney General’s office should apologize to the five and to the community, and should dedicate themselves to investigating the real war crimes, starting with the massacres that were committed against Santa Marta and other communities." The people of Santa Marta suffered brutal atrocities during the Civil War, and we join calls for real justice for victims of those war crimes.

This statement is being released by the following 14 organizations, who released an October 18 statement on the initial announcement of the trial verdict: International Allies against Mining in El Salvador, Americas Policy Group/Groupe d’orientation politique pour les Amériques (APG-GOPA), the Central American Alliance on Mining (ACAFREMIN), Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Common Frontiers, CoDevelopment Canada, the Institute for Policy Studies Trade and Mining Project, InterPares, MiningWatch Canada, Pax Christi International, the SHARE Foundation, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team, The United Church of Canada, and the Washington Ethical Society.

Contacts:

• John Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies: [email protected], +1 (202) 297-4823
• Pedro Cabezas, Central American Alliance against Mining (ACAFREMIN) and International Allies Against Mining in El Salvador: [email protected], + (503) 7498-4423
• Alexis Stoumbelis, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), [email protected], +1 (202) 521-2510 ext. 205
• Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies: [email protected], +1 (202) 704-9011
• Viviana Herrera, MiningWatch Canada: [email protected], +1 (438) 993-1264
• Professor Jorge Cuéllar, Member of International Delegation Observing Trial, [email protected]
• Professor Bernie Hammond, Member of International Delegation Observing Trial, [email protected]