On Thursday November 16, ARENA deputy Milena Calderon de Escalon made a show in the Legislative Assembly of tearing up the pronouncement to officially declare August 30 as the National Victims of Forced Disappearances Day.  

Calderon is a fierce defender of the Amnesty Law that protects those who committed human rights abuses during the civil war.

Those responsible for political murders in the past two years also walk free.

Gilberto Soto, a union leader from the United States, was murdered while on an organizing trip to El Salvador two years ago. On July 1st paramilitary death squads brutally tortured and killed the parents of former Radio Venceremos announcer “Mariposa” Marina Manzanares. They were 77 and 75 years old. 

President Saca’s administration has been impeding any real investigation of either of these murders.  After receiving no response from the government officials charged with investigating her parents’ murder, Mariposa—”the butterfly”— has gone on an international campaign denouncing the government’s cover-up of these crimes.  

This November marks the two year anniversary of Gilberto Soto’s murder. Both the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the U.S. Teamsters union have called for a real investigation into Soto's murder.  

The Teamsters specifically call on Condoleezza Rice and the U.S. State Department to pressure the Salvadoran government to investigate Soto’s murder.  

http://www.teamster.org/06news/nr_061122_1.asp

Persons wishing to support the Teamsters’ call should contact their representatives in Congress through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 1-212-224-3121). They may also call the U.S. State Department at 1-202-647-5291.

National Day of Action and Awareness about Violence against Women

The issue of impunity and a legal system that does not protect victims of crime has especially affected Salvadoran women.  El Salvador has the second highest level in Central America—behind Guatemala—of femicides, murders of women.  

In 1995, the Legislative Assembly ratified the Inter American Convention for the Prevention, Sanction and Eradication of Violence against Women Act, which means the Salvadoran government is responsible for its fulfillment. In reality, it has simply been ignored.

Various women right’s organizations participated in the November 24 annual march against the murders and violence towards women. Actions took place in the Capital area and in various cities around the country.

The march was the culmination of the national campaign against violence towards women. Hundreds of participants marched to the Presidential House, where they were stopped by riot police.  The women attempted to present the president with their demands for the exhaustive investigation of every murder, bringing the murderers to justice, and eradicating gender violence.

The FMLN participated and committed to lobbying in the Legislative Assembly for laws to effectively protect women from violence.

However, existing laws for the protection of women are not enforced.

Beatrice de Carrillo, the Human Rights Ombudsperson, also attended the march, making public her critique of the “failing” judicial system. She blamed the State for perpetrating systemic and social discrimination and violence against women.