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From May 5-9
CISPES chapters around the country are taking action to denounce
U.S. government inquiries into the work of CISPES and to raise awareness about
the U.S. role in ongoing human rights abuses and problems leading up to the 2009
elections in El Salvador.
In January CISPES received a
letter from the Department of Justice saying that the U.S. government
suspects the organization of being an “agent of a foreign principal”, which
would require CISPES to register under the “Foreign Agent Registration Act.” The
justification was a claim that the leftist FMLN party in El Salvador had hired CISPES to do public
relations and fundraising support for its presidential campaign in the
U.S., but little credible evidence
was provided. You can read more about the CISPES
DoJ case here.
Bush and the right-wing
Salvadoran ARENA party want to stop CISPES from providing effective solidarity.
We understand that this threat is meant to frighten us into changing the nature
of our work, such as our campaign against the US-sponsored International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), against the draconian Salvadoran
anti-terrorism law, and in favor of the right to free and fair elections in
El
Salvador. They want to make us think twice about standing with
the FMLN as a leading opponent of US dominance in Latin
America. While we take the government’s threat seriously, we have no
intention of toning down our solidarity
work.
Please take a moment to defend
CISPES’ solidarity work by denouncing the government’s attempts to stop our
organizing efforts! Organize and join CISPES’ work against the ILEA, which has
brought further human rights abuses to El Salvador! Speak out against the
anti-terrorist law, which is targeting and criminalizing the social movement!
Demand free and fair elections in El Salvador! Your action is critical
in defending the right to organize, in solidarity with those who are struggling
to have REAL democracy in El
Salvador.
Take
Action!
1. Ask your organization to sign on
the solidarity letter “Tell the Department of Justice to Lay Off
CISPES!” posted on the website of the Latin
America Solidarity Coalition – LASC. Go here to sign on: www.lasolidarity.org.
2. Call your Congressional
Representative and demand that they challenge funding for the
ILEA, both through the Merida Initiative
and the Foreign Operation Appropriations bill, by encouraging Western Hemisphere
Subcommittee Chairman Elliot Engel to hold a hearing (see below or go to www.cispes.org/ilea
for talking points).
3. Sign onto CISPES’ People’s Pledge
to Defend the Right to Free & Fair Elections in El Salvador
(go to www.cispes.org/documents/pledge2009.pdf
to download the pledge)
Stop Repression
in El Salvador and shut down the ILEA:
Background
This year, the International
Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) is being funded through both the Foreign
Operations Appropriations bill and the so-called Merida Initiative, the latter
of which will be voted on in the coming weeks in the U.S. Congress. The
U.S.-sponsored ILEA has been operating in El Salvador over
two years and has been criticized by social movement organizations and human
rights groups as another potential School of the Americas (SOA), under a new
name and in a new location. Since the opening of this institution, human rights
abuses have increased in El
Salvador, from attacks on peaceful protesters
by the National Civilian Police (PNC) to the documented role of the PNC in at
least 8 extra-judicial killings in one year.
When CISPES started its
campaign against the ILEA Congress was in the dark about this institution; now
after public education, protests, and visits to Congress by CISPES activists,
people are starting to be aware of the issues of repression in
El
Salvador and the nature of the ILEA
In the
coming months before the June vote on the Foreign Operation Appropriations bill
we hope to continue to educate Congress by pushing for a Congressional hearing
and challenging Congress to increase oversight of the ILEA, as part of our
campaign to shut down the police academy!
Call the House
Switchboard at (202) 224-3121
When you
call:
1) Ask the operator for your
Representative, and then ask to speak to your Representative’s foreign affairs
legislative assistant, chief of staff or legislative
director.
2) Tell them you are a constituent
and want to know your congressperson’s position on the ILEA. If they don’t know
what the ILEA is, inform your rep.
3) Using the description above and
the talking points on the CISPES webpage (www.cispes.org/ilea), explain why the
ILEA is another worrisome project of U.S. training of Latin American police
forces and why groups in El Salvador are demanding that it be closed.
4) After you make your points, ask
the aid what their position is on this issue. If they are unsure, urge them to
call congressmen Engel’s office to request a hearing on the ILEA at the Western
Hemisphere Subcommittee in order to provide them with more information about the
situation of the National Civilian Police, human rights abuses in
El
Salvador, and the
ILEA.
5) If the Rep. agrees to help work
on the ILEA issue, send an email to CISPES (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) with the name of
the person you spoke with and your Rep’s name, and we will send their office
more details about the ILEA and our campaign.
Go here
for more talking points
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