Since Tuesday, Salvadoran police have arrested at least 20 people in the Bukele government's most brazen attack to date on land defenders and human rights defenders. Among them is Fidel Zavala, spokesperson for the Community and Human Rights Defense Unit (UNIDEHC) who has gone public with his eyewitness testimony of torture in El Salvador's prisons. Police also raided UNIDEHC's office and the home of UNIDEHC lawyer Ivania Cruz, whom you may have heard speak during our webinars and virtual press conferences.

The need for international solidarity is URGENT. Please join us in decrying this attack on the right to organize! Please speak out on social media and tag El Salvador's Attorney General (@fgr_sv). Sample message:

#LibertadAFidelZavala. [I/We] call for the immediate release of #ElSalvador human rights defender Fidel Zavala & an end to the persecution of @unidehc. Over 100 groups globally denounced the criminalization of these human rights defenders in 2024: bit.ly/fidelzavala1 @FGR_SV

BACKGROUND

The Community and Human Rights Defense Unit (UNIDEHC) is a tireless grassroots force advocating for political prisoners, communities resisting displacement, and victims of El Salvador's State of Exception. As members of the Popular Rebellion and Resistance Bloc (BRP), UNIDEHC has been a leading critic of the Bukele government's widespread abuses.

Supported by UNIDEHC and the BRP, La Floresta community members were in the process of formalizing their ownership of the land on which they have lived for 12 years. On February 3, police arrested two members of their board of directors under the false pretense of inviting them to a meeting with the Attorney General's Office. On the morning of February 26, Zavala and La Floresta community members filed a formal complaint about the detentions with the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsperson. They themselves were arrested hours later, as were over 20 people from the community.

Popular movement organizations and prominent human rights organizations in El Salvador, including the Human Rights Institute at the UCA and Cristosal, have denounced the arrests as an alarming escalation of the government's attacks on human rights defenders and the right to organize.

In May 2024, 85 international organizations published a letter denouncing government surveillance against Cruz, who was out of the country during this week's raids on her home and the UNIDEHC office, and other human rights defenders who have been exposing abuses and injustices under Bukele's State of Exception. In December, 52 groups condemned political persecution of Zavala, who is the only formerly incarcerated person to publicly denounce abuses occurring the Salvadoran jails under the State of Exception.

This week's arrests also come on the heels of the February 13 detention of Eugenio Chicas, a historic FMLN leader, former president of the (formerly independent) Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and outspoken critic of Bukele's attacks on democracy. Together, they represent an extremely worrying escalation in persecution against opposition leaders in El Salvador.

Please join us in denouncing these arrests on social media today and stay tuned for more actions, including calling on our elected officials to speak out and take action to oppose U.S. and international support for repression in El Salvador.

Sample message & graphics for social media and/or share our posts on Facebook and X: #LibertadAFidelZavala. [I/We] call for the immediate release of #ElSalvador human rights defender Fidel Zavala & an end to the persecution of @unidehc. Over 100 groups globally denounced the criminalization of these human rights defenders in 2024: bit.ly/fidelzavala1 @FGR_SV