"No Crime to Pursue": International Organizations Applaud Salvadoran Tribunal Ruling that the Five Salvadoran Water Defenders Are Innocent of the False Charges against Them

The five prominent Water Defenders who faced politically-motivated charges are heroes of El Salvador — and they should never have been arrested.

San Salvador and Washington, D.C. – On October 18, the presiding tribunal in the Salvadoran trial of 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.

"We call on the Attorney General's office not to appeal this decision in order to ensure the definite freedom of our compañeros as soon as possible," the Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES), whose leading members were among those on trial, stated. "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." ADES held a press conference outside the courthouse and will release a more detailed statement later today.

In response to the verdict, an international coalition of 14 groups (listed at bottom) led by International Allies against Mining in El Salvador released the following statement:

The five prominent community leaders known as the "Santa Marta 5," Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco, and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega, were all instrumental in the successful campaign to save El Salvador's rivers from the threat of gold mining. With a unanimous vote in El Salvador's National Assembly in March 2017, El Salvador became the first nation on earth to ban all metallic mining.

Since the arrest of the five water defenders in January 2023 on politically-motivated charges, prominent organizations and individuals have led a national and international campaign spanning 31 countries demanding that the bogus charges be dropped and denouncing the political motivations behind their detention given the lack of evidence presented by the Salvadoran Attorney General's office.

Beyond the lack of evidence, the Salvadoran Attorney General's pursuit of this case has dealt a serious blow to the Salvadoran government's credibility, belying its claim that it remains a democracy and that it holds no political prisoners. The unceasing and courageous pressure from grassroots organizations in El Salvador – in concert with international solidarity – may have worked in favor of the Water Defenders today, but hundreds of political opponents, labor leaders and human rights defenders remain imprisoned. The community-led movement of water defenders still stands strong in the face of future attempts to undermine land and water protections for communities in El Salvador.

Our organizations support the call by Salvadoran civil society groups that the Salvadoran Attorney General should apologize to the five defendants, whose health has suffered greatly over the past 21 months that they have stood accused of and imprisoned on false charges, and to the Santa Marta community, which suffered from genuine military atrocities during the Salvadoran Civil War in 1980-1992.

As highlighted in a crucial fact-finding January 2024 report, the national and international campaigns have also condemned the criminalization of environmental defenders, the lack of legal rights and due process under the current "state of exception" imposed by the Salvadoran government, and have warned about the intention of the Salvadoran government to reverse the historic 2017 nationwide ban on metals mining.

The five Water Defenders should never have been charged, and the Salvadoran government's willingness to pursue these accusations despite their clear innocence signals a worrying willingness to persecute the movement that these five water defenders represent. We call on the Salvadoran government to forgo future sham prosecutions and uphold the democratic rule of law in future pursuit of true justice.

An international observer delegation made up of academics and lawyers from Canada, the United States, and Mexico observed the trial and noted several transgressions by the Salvadoran Attorney General's lawyers during the proceedings.  Not only did they violate the tribunal's gag order, by recklessly exposing the identities of witnesses and observers, they exhibited "overly aggressive behavior" toward witnesses.

The international solidarity movement supports the call by Salvadoran civil society and human rights organizations to end the ongoing "state of exception" in El Salvador, to release thousands of people who have been unjustly imprisoned, and to ensure that the historic 2017 nationwide ban on metallic mining remains in place.

"We applaud this verdict as a signal that justice must prevail in El Salvador. The five prominent Water Defenders who faced politically-motivated charges are heroes of El Salvador — and they never should have been arrested in the first place," said John Cavanagh, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Policy Studies. "These charges were clearly politically motivated, and through them, the Salvadoran attorney general displayed a stunning lack of respect for human rights and the environment in El Salvador. But the fight is not over – we have to ensure that the persecution of these community and environmental movement leaders does not continue and that they and others will be able to continue their important work safely. Pursuing this trial from the start still signals a willingness by the Salvadoran government to reverse the protections guaranteed by the historic 2017 mining ban."

"We are grateful to the hundreds of national and international civil society organizations who worked tirelessly for more than 20 months to denounce this injustice. A guilty ruling would have been a death sentence for our compañeros, as the inhumane conditions of Salvadoran jails have become a death trap for people of advanced age who suffer from chronic health conditions,"  said Vidalina Morales, president of The Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES). "We urge the Attorney General not to appeal this decision to the higher courts, but we are ready to go to the international human rights system if necessary to defend their innocence and their life."

"As we have said, the absolution of our environmental defenders was the only legal and just outcome. This ruling also upholds the interests and well-being of the country," Morales continued. "We recognize the professionalism, the independence and the courage of the judges of the Sentencing Tribunal of Sensuntepeque, who correctly applied the law and have not yielded to the extrajudicial pressures and interests that conspired to invent this case."

"We applaud the verdict. It is an important victory for environmental justice and human rights," said Viviana Herrera, Latin America Program Coordinator at MiningWatch Canada. "We join Salvadoran civil society, particularly environmental organizations such as ADES, who have worked hard on the case, and hope it will set a precedent for any future case of water defenders facing politically motivated prosecution in El Salvador".

"Through unity, conviction, and courage - and with overwhelming international support - the Salvadoran popular movement halted a grave injustice today," said Alexis Stoumbelis, organizational director at the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). "It should not have taken twenty months of a massive national and international campaign to free these community leaders when there was no evidence that a crime had ever occurred - and everyone knew it. That is why international organizations and governments must also join the call for freedom and justice for the dozens of union leaders, land defenders, and community leaders who denounced attacks on their rights and democracy who are now in jail, facing trumped up charges, or in exile, and for the tens of thousands who have been arbitrarily detained under the state of exception. Their lives are in jeopardy every day they remain in prison."

This statement is endorsed by the following 14 organizations: 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.

Press 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

Christie Neufeldt, United Church of Canada: [email protected], +1 (231) 7680 ext. 4078

Professor Jorge Cuéllar, Member of International Delegation Observing Trial, [email protected]

Professor Bernie Hammond, Member of International Delegation Observing Trial, [email protected]

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