After multiple postponements, a worrisome trial began in El Salvador on July 29: a re-trial of the Santa Marta 5, a group of well-known water defenders who had been instrumental in the country’s successful effort to ban mining in 2017.

In a press conference prior to the start of the trial, grassroots organizations in El Salvador joined community leaders from Santa Marta to denounce the proceedings as “double jeopardy” in practice, “violating the legal principle that no one can be tried twice for the same crime.” The community concluding that “the only lawful and just outcome is the absolution of our environmental leaders” due to the lack of evidence against them.

The case has been a flashpoint internationally for concerns about the integrity of the justice system and increasing risk to environmental and human rights defenders in El Salvador.

In an early dawn raid on January 11, 2023, police arrested Antonio Pacheco, Saúl Agustín Rivas, Alejandro Laínez, Miguel Ángel Gámez, Pedro Antonio Rivas y Fidel Recinos for an alleged murder dating back to 1989 disappearance of Maria Inés AIvarenga. They were jailed for over eight months before being released to house arrest due to risk to their health. When the trial finally occurred in October 2024, the tribunal absolved the Santa Marta 5, finding that there was “no crime to pursue.”

However, the Attorney General’s office moved quickly to appeal, and, despite no new evidence having been presented, the process was scheduled to begin again in a new jurisdiction. Environmental organizations and international allies sounded the alarm that the goal of the continued persecution was to intimidate organized communities like Santa Marta that are once again on the forefront of the battle to save El Salvador’s water; Nayib Bukele overturned the historic mining ban in December 2024 despite broad popular opposition to mining. After multiple delays, including a successful petition by the defense to remove a judge who was a former member of the National Guard, the trial resumed in what has become an increasingly repressive political climate against organized communities, attorneys and human rights defenders.

In their statement prior to the start of the trial, community leaders from Santa Marta and diverse organizations in El Salvador expressed their hope that the new judge would “act in accordance with the law, rule on the basis of legality, and ensure justice by absolving the environmental activists. We call for this due to a fundamental reason: there is no actual proof that the alleged crimes were committed in the first place, let alone their participation in them.” (Read a translation in English here)

The community noted that the Attorney General’s case is “based on the contradictory testimony of a suspicious protected witness” who first claimed to have been an eyewitness but later admitted he had only been told what allegedly happened. Though the charges include murder, the body of the victim was never found, despite an intensive search by the Attorney General’s office in July 2023.

For more details on the case, please see the Institute for Policy Studies report, "State of Deception" in English and Spanish.

Since the start of the Attorney General’s persecution against the Santa Marta 5, legal experts have expressed concern that the state’s prosecution violates the 1992 National Reconciliation Law, which provided limited amnesty to former combatants with the revolutionary Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in order to facilitate their transition into civilian life. The law, which does not apply to war crimes or crimes against humanity, was a pillar of the United Nations-negotiated peace process that ended the twelve-year civil war (1980-1992).

At the conclusion of the first day of the trial, defense attorney Pedro Cruz said the defense was prepared to show that - despite the Attorney General’s accusation - there was no pattern of human rights violations committed that would constitute a crime against humanity, let alone the involvement of the defendants.

On July 31, after both parties presented their closing arguments, the tribunal said it would announce its ruling on August 21.

For any breaking news, please follow: ACAFREMIN, Comunidad Santa Marta and the Foro Nacional de Salud