Remembering María Julia: Defender of Human Rights in El Salvador

“Our struggle to exercise these rights here in El Salvador continues, we will keep searching for this truth and justice in El Salvador's courts. I don't know when, but one day truth and justice will flourish in our country for the victims who abandoned this utopia with their blood.”
  - Dr. María Julia Hernández

Dr. María Julia Hernandez, long-time director of Tutela Legal, The Salvadoran Archdiocese's human rights office, and defender of the victims of horrific human rights violations, died March 30^th four years ago. 


SHARE worked with María Julia, Tutela Legal, and the Archdiocese on many human rights initiatives over the years, including human rights campaigns during the war, coordination with the movement of refugees repopulating communities in the late 1980s, and working on the initial design for a memorial wall dedicated to the civilian victims of the war. SHARE brought María Julia on tour in the U.S. to promote and fundraise for the construction of the memorial wall. Says SHARE Executive Director José Artiga, “María Julia is one of our most prominent women leaders in El Salvador. She worked closely with all the Archbishops, and was a defender of human rights who promoted denouncements, justice, and reparations.”

In honor of María Julia Hernández, Wednesday March 30^th 2011 members of Tutela Legal organized a mass and forum in the Crypt of the National Cathedral, where María Julia, Archbishop Oscar Romero, and a number of other priests and religious persons are buried. María Julia is one of the only women buried in the Crypt. A group of forty people gathered to commemorate her life, including members of COMADRES, the Committee of the Mothers of the Disappeared, and many others who knew her. In the spirit of María Julia, during the opening prayer, one of the priests proclaimed, “We are gathered here for the dignity of all, no matter their social class.”

Decorating María Julia's tomb
with flowers

Following the mass, Luis Morales and Dr. Aceda Díaz shared reflections about María Julia's personality, work, and legacy. María Julia first became involved in working for human rights after meeting Archbishop Romero in 1977 at a gathering of student groups. Archbishop Romero called on the students to aid the victims of disappearance and genocide, and María Julia decided to accompany him in this work. She took on a preferential option for the victims, committing the rest of her life to defending human rights.

In 1983, María Julia took leadership of the newly formed Tutela Legal. She and her team worked tirelessly and systematically to investigate, record, and denounce massacres, murders, disappearances, and other human rights violations, and to protect victims. While these atrocities stopped happening systematically with the end of the war, they remained covered by silence, impunity, and the amnesty law. María Julia continued to work for the truth to be known and acknowledged. Together with Tiberio Arnoldo Romero, brother of Archbishop Oscar Romero, she brought the case of Archbishop Romero's assassination to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. She also played an instrumental role in coordinating the exhumations of the El Mozote Massacre, bringing irrefutable evidence to light. She helped facilitate the planning and construction of the Monument to Truth and Memory as well, a memorial wall with the names of nearly 30,000 civilian victims killed or disappeared during the war.

Congratulations Pro Busqueda: Government Publicy Recognizes Children Disappeared During the Armed Conflict

A seemingly endless line of children, youth, and the occasional adult gathered outside the Feria Internacional in San Salvador the morning of March 29^th, 2011. Everyone trickled through the gates one by one and rushed toward a huge ampitheatre decorated with kites and crawling with people for the Day of the Children Disappeared During the Armed Conflict. While the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly first named March 29^th the Day of the Children Disappeared During the Armed Conflict in 2007, this Tuesday marked the first time the Salvadoran government participated in the celebration, publicly acknowledging the many children who suffered forced disappearance and separation from their families during the armed conflict. Pro Busqueda coordinated this exciting historic commemorative event together with the Salvadoran Secretariat of Social Inclusion, lead by First Lady Vanda Pignato. 

Probusqueda, a Salvadoran non-profit organization dedicated to searching for those disappeared as children during the armed conflict, has spearheaded the fight for truth, justice, and reparations for disappeared children and their families. After seventeen years advocating for families of the disappeared and working with many individuals who were disappeared, for Pro Busqueda to finally hear the government's acknowledgement of responsibility for the many children forcibly taken from their families during the war marked a historical moment. Father Jon Cortina, S.J. started Pro Busqueda together with families from the community of Guarjila shortly after the end of the war. Families have reported over nine hundred cases of disappeared children to the staff of Pro Busqueda, who have found over three hundred people, and continue to search for more than five hundred. Pro Busqueda brought a number of young people who were disappeared and have since been found to the commemoration on Tuesday.

Members of Pro Busqueda opened the event reminding everyone that it was a morning to pause and remember the those children torn from their homes, to share the search so many families and individuals have walked, and through this moment of truth step toward justice and begin to build sanity and reconciliation for El Salvador. They then brought the crowd together chanting “No los olvidamos,” We do not forget them. School groups, individuals, and organizations from all fourteen departments of El Salvador added their voices.

Much of the crowd surged to their feet at the announcement of President Mauricio Funes' entrance. As Funes slowly descended the main staircase with his wife at his side and a trail of dignitaries, members of Pro Busqueda, and victims of forced disappearance behind him, he shook the hand of each of the kids and young adults lined up alongside the stairs, a wide grin lighting his face. Once Presidente Funes and his wife took their seats on the stage, the official commemorative act began. The act included the introduction of a postage stamp for the Day of Children Disappeared During the Armed Conflict, featuring a child's footprints, prizes awarded to university students who wrote essays about disappeared children, and speeches by Ester Alvarenga, Coordinator of Probusqueda, and President Funes. As icing on the cake, those gathered had the pleasure of listening to internationally renowned singer/song-writer Julieta Venegas perform following the commemorative act. 

Anti-Mining Activist Disappears!

The SHARE Foundation denounces the disappearance of Marcelo Rivera, a renowned leader in the community of San Isidro in the northern department of Cabañas. Marcelo was last seen in the afternoon of June 18th near the town of Ilobasco, Cabañas. He was wearing a Bishop Oscar Romero t-shirt and blue jeans. Marcelo's family, friends, and community members are desperately searching for him. They suspect that he may have been abducted for political reasons. Marcelo was one of the main FMLN leaders who denounced the presence of foreigners trying to vote illegally in San Isidro during the January 18th municipal elections. As a result, elections were suspended in the town and conducted a week later under strict oversight. Marcelo is a leader in the social resistance movement against the Canadian mining corporation, Pacific Rim. The mining company has been exploring for gold in the El Dorado mine located in Cabañas. Pacific Rim is currently suing El Salvador under CAFTA because the government has refused to grant the company permits to begin gold mining extraction.

Marcelo Rivera is a 37 year-old teacher who works as the Director of San Isidro's Casa de la Cultura, a community center dedicated to promoting the local culture. Marcelo is also a founding member and Director of Friends of San Isidro Cabañas (ASIC), which is a member organization of the National Working Group Against Mining in El Salvador (La Mesa). In addition, Marcelo is an FMLN leader at the local level, serving as a party board member in the Cabañas chapter. This week, communities in San Isidro, ASIC, and other social organizations gathered in front of the Casa de la Cultura to express their concern and to pressure local and national authorities to begin investigations regarding the whereabouts of Marcelo. Students and teachers from San Isidro's schools participated in the protest carrying signs asking authorities to stop violence, corruption, and impunity....Continue reading "Anti-Mining Activist Disappears."

- Claudia Rodríguez, DC Policy Office Director

Violence and Impunity in El Salvador

The LA Times published an excellent article today about gang violence in El Salvador. As violence along the border in Mexico increases, El Salvador continues to have one of the highest murder rates in the world; in fact, the article cites that the country's murder rate is five times that of Mexico. Half of the murders in El Salvador are committed by youth, and the National Civil Police state that 70% of the victims are youth between the ages of 15 and 39.Some of the violence can be attributed to gang violence. LA Times journalist Tracy Wilkinson interviews a Spanish priest, Father Antonio Rodríguez, who runs a violence-prevention program in a parish in the impoverished Mejicanos neighborhood in San Salvador. Father Rodríguez asserted that "gangs used to protect the neighborhoods, their turf, and attacked only outsiders." However, with current President Antonio Saca's ineffective and draconian Iron Fist policies toward youth involved with criminal activity and the rise of the number of gang members in prison, gangs now "strike anywhere...because they need to support their incarcerated associates and families."

The article points out hundreds of murders each year are committed by members of the police force, private security guards, and assassins hired to carry out "social cleansing." Meanwhile, impunity reigns as few murder cases are rarely solved. El Salvador has a long history of providing impunity for the worst human rights offenders: war criminals during the country's bloody Civil War are protected by a blanket Amnesty Law. Given the prevailing sense of impunity coupled with dire poverty, is there any wonder that the death tolls keep climbing?

To read the article, click here.

*Photo by José Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images though the LA Times.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

"Victimizer wants to punish the victim"

Below is an English translation of the public opinion piece from the National Working Group Against Metallic Mineral Mining published in the Diario CoLatino in response to Pacific Rim's initiation's of arbitration proceedings against the Salvadoran government.

Victimizer Wants to Punish the Victim

On April 30, Pacific Rim made good on its threat to sue the Salvadoran State for denying them the environmental permit to extract the El Dorado mine in San Isidro (Cabañas).

Having completed the ninety days waiting period, the Canadian company went to the International Center for Investment Disputes (ICSID) to demand repayment of $77 million in “mining exploration investments.”

The mining company announced its decision to sue the country at the beginning of December of 2008, under CAFTA regulations. During the following three months, the government of El Salvador has to look for an “amicable solution,” which means to say, the authorization of the solicited permit.

However, instead of a favorable response, Pacific Rim was met with President Antonio Saca’s and President-elect Mauricio Funes’ commitment to prevent mining project in national territory.

In the words of the German economist Franz Hinkelammert, Pacific Rim’s lawsuit is a case where the victimizer presents himself as a victim: the assailant asks for punishment for the one who is assaulted.

We shall see. The mining company came to this country and dried up the water sources in San Isidro, caused economic losses in Guacotecti, generated conflicts among the community in Sensuntepeque, corrupted mayors and legislators, violated environmental law, offended religious authorities, spread misleading information, etc.

Therefore, the communities of Cabañas, the Catholic Church, and the Salvadoran government are the ones who, as victims, prosecute the mining company, the victimizer. But no. It is Pacific Rim that is presented as the one whose “rights have been violated” and demands millions of dollars in compensation before the corporate tribunal, who resolution is easy to foresee, given that entities such as ICSID only respond to interests of corporate transnational companies.

The Archbishop of San Salvador, Monsignor José Luis Escobar Alas, rightly insists that the mining company only received exploration permits and that extraction licenses are not automatic.

However, outside of legal arguments, El Salvador should appeal to the principles of human dignity, national sovereignty, self-determination of the people, defense of the environment and the continuation of life.

Reject the mining company’s demand and, at the same time, sue the company for causing ecological, economic, social and institutional damages, it a matter of national interest. The country, citizens and the government should close ranks.

The case should also serve to reactivate the struggle against CAFTA. If it is not repealed or, at the least, some of its most damaging aspects are not modified, this trade agreement will make us subject to transnational companies that damage the ecosystem, productivity, and life.

- Communications Staff of the National Working Group against Metallic Mineral Mining

*Photo from mimundo.org/Oxfam America.

- Translated and posted by Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Immigrant Roots - Immigrant Rights!

Below are a few pictures from NCIC's May Day rally for immigrants' rights. To see more pictures from the march, click here.


*Photos taken by Jake Cunningham.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

"The people who love their freedom will one day achieve it." - Simón Bolívar

Below are photos taken during the 2009 May Day march in San Salvador last Friday:


To see a slideshow of photos from the march, click here.

*Photos from El Faro.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Legislative Assembly votes against same-sex marriages

Last week, the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador approved a new amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman, thereby by prohibiting same-sex marriages as well as adoption by same-sex parents. Rodolfo Parker, PDC Legislator and supporter of the amendment, pronounced, "Marriage is only between a man and a woman, born that way. It remains consecrated in our country that marriage is not possible for same-sex couples."

FMLN politicians expressed concern over the amendment for its discriminatory nature and did not vote to approve the amendment. FMLN Legislator Arturo Fernández stated that although the party refused to support the amendment, the FMLN has no plans to promote the legalization of same-sex marriages and pointed out that the country's LGBT organizations have not asked for legalization of same-sex marriages either. In fact, the Alliance for Diversity Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) issued a statement confirming that "we are have asked them to legalize [same-sex] marriages, but that they enact laws that do not affect their legality."

*Photo of the Alliance for Diversity's vigil courtesy of El Diario de Hoy.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

BREAKING NEWS: Pacific Rim subsidiary sues Salvadoran government

Today a Pacific Rim Mining Company subsidiary began arbitration proceedings under CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) against the Salvadoran government. The company claims that is has operated "in full compliance with Salvadoran law, including the country's environmental, mining and foreign investment laws, and have met or exceeded all applicable standards while conducting business in El Salvador." In a press release, Pacific Rim stated its intention to seek damages in the "hundreds of millions of dollars from the [Salvadoran] government" for its loss of potential profits.
Pacific Rim officials state that their company has invested over $77 million in their mining projects. The company states that the Salvadoran government has violated international and Salvadoran law by failing to issue the company mining extraction permits. In a statement included in the press release, Tom Shrake, Manager and CEO of Pacific Rim, tried to appeal to those with concerns regarding the effects of mining on human rights, environmental rights, and the Salvadoran economy. "It is not just the rights of Pacific Rim that are being compromised, but the rights of all Salvadorans and future foreign investors," he lamented, claiming that Salvadorans were losing out on jobs and the privilege of being one of the first countries in the Americas to hold a new standard in environmentally-friendly mining projects.

To read the press release, click here. To read a copy of the filing, click here.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

"In this house we want a life without violence toward women."

The following article, written by Sara Miller Llana, was published in The Christian Science Monitor's blog:

SUCHITOTO, EL SALVADOR – Time seems to have stood still in the colonial town of Suchitoto, about 30 miles from El Salvador’s frenetic capital, with its quiet cobblestone streets and perfectly preserved architecture. But now its white-washed walls are adorned with a 21st-century message: “In this house we want a life without violence toward women.”

The words, which are accompanied by a bird and flower, the symbol of Suchitoto, forms part of a campaign by the Feminist Collective for Local Development to “elevate societal rejection of domestic violence, and make it a subject we should all be worried about,” says local feminist activist Morena Herrera.

It seems to have worked: The overall impression, reading the message on home after home – where women sweep their front porches and men gather in rocking chairs to talk on lazy afternoons – is one of camaraderie around an issue that is often overlooked in macho cultures in Latin America. In El Salvador, which contends with skyrocketing crime rates from street gangs, violence against women is even less prioritized, says Ms. Herrera.

According to the US State Department’s 2008 report on human rights, El Salvador received 6,051 reports of domestic violence last year, compared with 5,906 complaints in 2007.

The Feminist Collective for Local Development painted the walls in January with the help of the mayor’s office, and they hope to extend the program to other municipalities. Aminta Molina, whose front wall carries the motif, says she supports any initiative that gives women a boost. “Women used to have no power,” she says. “Now we are fully equals.”

- Posted by Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

*Photo from The Christian Science Monitor

Stop the raids and deportations!

Join the SHARE Foundation on Friday, May 1st, in Washington, DC to march for immigrant justice. This is a critical time for all those who support the immigrant community to mobilize and demand that President Barack Obama make good on his promise to put forward immigration reform legislation in 2009.

Our demands:

• Stop the raids and deportations
• Just and humane immigration reform
• End the 287(g) Agreements (no local enforcement of unjust immigration laws)

To join the march, meet at Malcolm X Park at 3PM (click here for directions) and at 4PM we will march to the White House.

This mobilization is sponsored by the National Capital Immigrant Coalition (NCIC). To endorse this action, contact David Thurston at dthurston@casamd.org.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Catholic Church presents 300,000 signatures against equality

The Catholic Church presented El Salvador's Legislative Assembly with 300,000 signatures of people who are in favor of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union solely between a man and a woman. Only 56 votes are needed to approve the amendment, and all but one political party (FMLN) have stated their support for the amendment. The Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar Alas (left), stated that the legislation would not discriminate against homosexual relationships. Instead, the legislation would serve to "safeguard the good of the family, the good of matrimony, and the good of society." He further stated, "We want to put up padlocks so that society's values are firm."

In an interview published in La Página, Ana Cisneros (right), a leader of the LGBT rights movement in El Salvador and honorary member of Las Dignas, stated that the Catholic Church does not have the moral ground to oppose same sex marriages. Cisneros stated that if the Catholic Church truly wanted to protect the institutions of marriage and family, the Church would work to create better conditions so families can be lifted out of poverty. As for the Legislative Assembly, "it would be better if they dedicated themselves to creating legislation that would protect children and single women or generate jobs." In an allusion to the Church's hardline stance on abortion and contraception, Cisneros asserted, "The Catholic Church cares about you when you are a fetus, but when a person is born, it abandons him or her." Cisneros admitted that marriage is not the end-all-be-all for the LGBT community in El Salvador, but "we want the same rights, that's all...to choose our own way of life."

*Photos from Day Life and La Página.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Salvadoran Government trying to ban gay marriage...

There is limited information and news regarding the new constitutional amendment for the Salvadoran government on making marriage only between a man and a women, but the following article was posted on the Melbourne Community Voice for Gay and Lesbian Readers:

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Members of El Salvador’s gay community hang a rainbow flag bearing the words ‘Paedophile Priests’ in Spanish outside the Legislative Assembly in San Salvador on Monday, April 20, 2009 to protest the Catholic Church’s request to legally prohibit marriages between gays.
The action is a response to the Church’s claim to have amassed 200,000 signatures on a petition in support of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, which is currently before the legislature.

“The basic unit of society is the family, and consequently so is marriage, and therefore it deserves a true constitutional definition,” the Archbishop of San Salvador, Jose Luis Escobar, said at a press conference on Sunday. He went on to say same-sex marriages “are not moral and therefore cannot be considered marriage, but in fact are [unions], but that’s another thing,” the website SDPNoticias.com reports.

The LGBT movement in El Salvador has continuously fought for job security and simple recognition. They have not fought for marriage, but ARENA has pushed this agenda and now we will find out today if the Legislative Assembly will pass the amendment.

*Photo courtesy of the Melbourne Community Voice for Gay and Lesbian Readers.

-Posted by Gregory Stock, Communications and Development Officer

Ministerial decree to reduce homophobia in health services

The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance of El Salvador approved a decree to reduce homophobia in health care services as part of the country's National Plan on HIV Prevention.

According to an article by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, a country progress report from 2008 indicated that human rights violations as a main barrier to an effective response to the spread of AIDS in El Salvador. This new decree, therefore, is one of several actions being taken to "reduce homophobia and any type of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the health services." To measure the health providers' accountability to this decree, the Minister has asked that health institutions report back how they have reduced homophobia in their health services, though it is unclear what standards would be used or actions would be taken to sanction those who do not make improvements.

According to UNAIDS, 17.8% of men who have sex with men are infected with HIV. The article asserts, "Stigma and homophobia increase the isolation of gays, bisexuals and transgender people making them more reluctant to come forward, get advice and access HIV services such as treatment, testing and counseling."

As exciting as this new decree is for El Salvador, I hope that the Ministry of Public Health and Assistance provides training and education for health providers on homophobia. Without training and education, it seems impossible and almost unfair to hold health providers accountable for homophobia in their health services when many doctors, nurses, and staff may not have a clue about what homophobia is and how they can combat it. What do you think?

*Pictures taken from Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and http://www.phayul.com/images/news/articles/070111052251DQ.jpg.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator