Eclipsed from the headlines by the ongoing carnage, there is an active
civil resistance in Iraq that opposes the occupation, the torture regime
it protects, and the jihadi and Ba'athist 'resistance' alike.
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Mon, 07/09/2007 - 02:53.
From Weekly News Update on the Americas, July 8:
A protest by campesinos and others on July 2 prevented Salvadoran president Elias Antonio Saca from presiding over a scheduled ceremony in the San Juan recreation center in the northern city of Suchitoto that was to inaugurate his National Policy for the Decentralizing of Basic Services. Charging that Saca's real plan is for privatization of the water system, campesino groups, women's groups and left organizations demonstrated in Suchitoto's central plaza while others blocked the highway leading to the city, keeping diplomats and other dignitaries from attending the ceremony. (Saca arrived by helicopter.)
The Unit for the Maintenance of Order (UMO) of the national police attacked the protesters for four hours with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. Helicopters circled the area, and a military unit was deployed in armored vehicles. A total of 25 people were injured with rubber bullets, 18 were injured by the pepper spray, and 14 were arrested. Four of those arrested were leaders of the Association of Rural Communities for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), a well-known nongovernmental organization. The four leaders hadn't participated in the protests; police stopped them as they were driving toward Suchitoto. (Adital, July 6; CISPES Update, July 3; Minga Informativa de Movimientos Sociales, July 4)
On July 6 the Attorney General's Office formally charged the 14 detainees before a tribunal in San Salvador with illicit
association, public disorder and acts of terrorism. The prosecutors claimed they could apply the Antiterrorist Law because the protesters had blocked access to the city, damaged property and impeded the passage of government officials. The judge said she would consider the charges on a case-by-case basis. (Argenpress, July 6)
Demonstrators from various social organizations and the leftist Farabundi Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) marched in San Salvador on July 7 to protest the charges. Taking different streets from the west of the capital, they passed through exclusive residential neighborhoods before arriving near the courthouse. Along the way they set off fireworks and painted slogans on walls. (Univision, July 7 from AFP)
Ombudsperson for the Defense of Human Rights Beatrice Alamanni de Carrillo has revealed in her final report that high-ranking police officials once conspired to have her assassinated while she was visiting the Mariona prison. She declined to give details, although she said it was clear from a videotape. Alamanni de Carrillo is stepping down; her replacement, Oscar Humberto Luna, was approved in the National Assembly at the end of June by most parties, ranging from the FMLN to President Saca's rightwing National Republican Alliance (ARENA). Alamanni de Carrillo has intervened to end police repression of protesters in the past and was investigating the case of the CRIPDES arrests. Luna said he would continue the investigation. (Argenpress, July 7)
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El Salvador: further details on repression
From Weekly News Update on the Americas, July 8:
A protest by campesinos and others on July 2 prevented Salvadoran president Elias Antonio Saca from presiding over a scheduled ceremony in the San Juan recreation center in the northern city of Suchitoto that was to inaugurate his National Policy for the Decentralizing of Basic Services. Charging that Saca's real plan is for privatization of the water system, campesino groups, women's groups and left organizations demonstrated in Suchitoto's central plaza while others blocked the highway leading to the city, keeping diplomats and other dignitaries from attending the ceremony. (Saca arrived by helicopter.)
The Unit for the Maintenance of Order (UMO) of the national police attacked the protesters for four hours with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. Helicopters circled the area, and a military unit was deployed in armored vehicles. A total of 25 people were injured with rubber bullets, 18 were injured by the pepper spray, and 14 were arrested. Four of those arrested were leaders of the Association of Rural Communities for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), a well-known nongovernmental organization. The four leaders hadn't participated in the protests; police stopped them as they were driving toward Suchitoto. (Adital, July 6; CISPES Update, July 3; Minga Informativa de Movimientos Sociales, July 4)
On July 6 the Attorney General's Office formally charged the 14 detainees before a tribunal in San Salvador with illicit
association, public disorder and acts of terrorism. The prosecutors claimed they could apply the Antiterrorist Law because the protesters had blocked access to the city, damaged property and impeded the passage of government officials. The judge said she would consider the charges on a case-by-case basis. (Argenpress, July 6)
Demonstrators from various social organizations and the leftist Farabundi Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) marched in San Salvador on July 7 to protest the charges. Taking different streets from the west of the capital, they passed through exclusive residential neighborhoods before arriving near the courthouse. Along the way they set off fireworks and painted slogans on walls. (Univision, July 7 from AFP)
Ombudsperson for the Defense of Human Rights Beatrice Alamanni de Carrillo has revealed in her final report that high-ranking police officials once conspired to have her assassinated while she was visiting the Mariona prison. She declined to give details, although she said it was clear from a videotape. Alamanni de Carrillo is stepping down; her replacement, Oscar Humberto Luna, was approved in the National Assembly at the end of June by most parties, ranging from the FMLN to President Saca's rightwing National Republican Alliance (ARENA). Alamanni de Carrillo has intervened to end police repression of protesters in the past and was investigating the case of the CRIPDES arrests. Luna said he would continue the investigation. (Argenpress, July 7)