Advocacy on behalf of Salvadoran political prisoners

On July 2, 2007, during protests in Suchitoto against the imminent announcement by President Elias Antonio Saca of a national policy of decentralization including water and other services, the demonstrators were repressed by the police with rubber bullets and tear gas.

According to reports, around 30 protestors were arrested, including four members of the Association for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES) while traveling toward the location of the demonstration. Later, several of those arrested reported being subject to physical and psychological abuse during the arrest and transfer to police barracks.

A report by the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, asserted that these detainees have experienced severe abuse. The victims of this abuse were beaten during interrogation, isolated in remote places for questioning, and threatened that they would be thrown from a helicopter during a transfer between detention centers. In addition, one of the men arrested, Patricio Valladares, was hospitalized after the beating he received during his arrest. His injuries, however, have not been acknowledged to their full extent by the prosecutor's office, reportedly in an attempt to protect those who carried out this attack. (excerpt from Amnesty International report and SHARE Foundation reports on the SHARE website)


Numerous efforts are being made within El Salvador and in the international community. We encourage you to act to call for justice for the political prisoners.

• For continuing updates on the status of the political prisoners, see the SHARE website. Follow news of advocacy efforts on behalf of the detainees and get the latest reports by visiting the SHARE Foundation website action alerts
• Read Amnesty International's report
• Read Rep. Jim McGovern's letter to Pres. Saca
• Call to ask your member of Congress to sign on to a letter, sponsored by Rep. Capuano of Massachusetts and addressed to President Saca of El Salvador. (Click here to see the revised version of the letter.) Remember, the deadline for new signatures is Thursday, Aug. 2!
  

Youth Delegation reports from June trip to El Salvador

A group of seven youth and five adults from CBC spent a week in El Salvador at the end of June. Six Salvadoran young people from Shekina Baptist Church and Shalom Baptist Church traveled with the CBC youth to visit important sites around the country. and to participate in meetings to learn about the current political and economic realities of the people of El Salvador. Read reports and see photos from their visits by clicking here.

For the beginning of the trip, the delegation members were hosted by families from Shekina Baptist Church in Santa Ana. Other meetings and events during the week were coordinated by the SHARE Foundation. The itinerary included visits to women's cooperatives in Chalchuapa and the Bajo Lempa, a base Christian community and urban youth program in Mejicanos, various sites in San Salvador including Divina Providencia (where Oscar Romero was assassinated) and the UCA (where the Jesuits were martyred), and the community of Nueva Esperanza.

Prior to the trip, our CBC youth set up a blog to record some of their year-long program of learning activities and fundraising efforts at www.youthdelegation.blogspot.com.

This most recent youth delegation builds on the foundation of our first youth-focused delegation in 2004 and represents a new era in our history when a new generation of young people receives the legacy of our justice commitments and make them their own.