COPINH rallies outside the Embassy of El Salvador calling for the release of the Santa Marta 5 water defenders
On October 9, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) posted:
“COPINH present at the Embassy of El Salvador in Honduras, demanding the release of the 5 ADES/Santa Marta defenders.
COPINH joins the demand for freedom for the defenders of Santa Marta, who have tirelessly defended the ban on metal mining in El Salvador. Today, they are on trial in order to silence their struggle and open the doors to extractivism, a direct threat to communities and the environment.
We demand their immediate release!
Enough political persecution! #Santa Marta is not alone
#Freedom for the 5“
The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied COPINH since May 2016.
Radio-Canada has reported: “Five community leaders and environmental defenders fighting the mining industry in El Salvador are facing a trial described as a direct attack on the defense of water and life.”
That article continues: “The community of Santa Marta, El Salvador, has opposed mining projects for more than a decade, particularly those run by foreign companies, often linked to Canadian-based mining interests.”
It further notes: “Ever Hernández, of the Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES) … explained that Canada, as the host country for a large part of the mining companies with operations in the region, has a key role in this conflict. According to him, Canadian mining companies have influence in Latin America, and sometimes communities must face legal proceedings and even criminalization when they oppose their operations.”
Photo: Supporters outside the Embassy of El Salvador in Ottawa on September 25 call for the release of the Santa Marta 5.
The trial began on Tuesday October 8 and was scheduled to conclude yesterday, Thursday October 10.
ElSalvador.com has explained: “According to the accusation, the defendants would have murdered a woman in August 1989, in the context of the civil war, allegedly considering her an Army informant. [But] ‘Due to the lack of proof and scientific evidence in the process of its purchase, it is unobjectionable that the criminalization and persecution of the environmentalists of Santa Marta has a political motive, which is to silence the opposition to metal mining and its reactivation in the country,’ said Dr. María Julia Hernández in a statement.”
On October 9, Diario Co Latino reported: “The Santa Marta community and ADES have denounced through social networks, nationally and internationally, that elements of the National Civil Police (PNC) are mistreating their fellow community leaders during the transfers to the Public Hearing, in the Sentencing Court of Sensuntepeque [a town more than 86 kilometers from the capital San Salvador].”
The following day, Diario Co Latino noted: “Pedro Cruz, from the defense team of the five environmentalists from ADES and Santa Marta, reported that the verdict of the Sentencing Court of Sensuntepeque, Cabañas, will not be known until Tuesday, October 15 of this year.”
We continue to follow this.
#LibertadParaLos5
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