An initial hearing against human rights activist Fidel Zavala, spokesperson for the Community and Human Rights Defense Unit (UNIDEHC) and 24 residents of the La Floresta community, including one pregnant woman, who were unjustly arrested in February is set to take place today, March 13, in an organized crime tribunal.
In the Bukele government's most brazen attack to date on land and human rights defenders to date, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) is charging Zavala and members of the La Floresta community who had organized to legally challenge the eviction of over 100 families from their community with “illicit association,” the charge frequently used for alleged gang association. The FGR has also characterized UNIDEHC, a grassroots human rights defense group made up of community leaders and independent attorneys, as an “illicit association.”
The decision to send the case to an organized crime tribunal instead of a common court imposes secrecy on case information and further restricts due process. It is also a deliberate attempt to criminalize land and human rights defenders and a blatant attack on the right to organize!
The need for international solidarity is URGENT!
Earlier this week, over 170 organizations from around the world called on the Inter-American Human Rights Commission to grant protective measures for Fidel, whose possible transfer from a holding cell to one of El Salvador’s deadly prisons is particularly concerning. He is a well-known in El Salvador for having denounced the torture and abuse that he witnessed while previously held in pre-trial detention for 13 months on an unrelated charge, for which he was found innocent. Amnesty International has also circulated an Urgent Alert about this case.
Join us in demanding that Fidel not be placed under the custody of prison officials he has publicly accused of torture and deaths, justice for the La Floresta community, and end to the criminalization of community organizing and human rights defense.
Raise your voice! Speak out on social media by sharing one of these graphics and tag El Salvador’s Attorney General (@FGR_SV) with the hashtags #LibertadAFidelZavala, #OrganizarNoEsDelito with this sample message:
#LibertadAFidelZavala Using organized crime courts against #LaFloresta land defenders is an attack on the right to organize! I/We call for the immediate release of #ElSalvador human rights defender Fidel Zavala (@unidehc) and #LaFloresta leaders @FGR_SV
Defending human rights is NOT a crime. #LibertadAFidelZavala. I/We call for the immediate release of #ElSalvador human rights defender Fidel Zavala, #LaFloresta community leaders, and an end to political persecution of @UNIDEHC and all Salvadoran human rights defenders. @FGR_SV
Contact Salvadoran authorities by taking the Amnesty International Urgent Action! You can use the form here to easily deliver your message.
-- 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 fighting an eviction from lands they’ve inhabited for twelveyears. 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 25, 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.
The Attorney General is accusing the detained residents of La Floresta of illicit associations, aggravated threats, unlawful occupation of property, illegal practice of a profession, irregular commercialization of lots and subdivisions, and unlawful restriction of movement. These accusations are a gross mischaracterization of the community’s organizing to defend themselves against attempts to violently and arbitrarily evict their community of over one hundred families from lands where they have lived for over ten years, including by pursuing legal processes to be able to remain in their homes. Fidel Zavala faces charges of illicit associations, irregular commercialization of lots and subdivisions, and illegal practice of a profession. On March 5, Amnesty International issued an urgent action regarding Zavala's detention and the raids on the home of attorney Ivania Cruz and the UNIDEHC office.
The UNIDEHC and BRP have filed 25 constitutional appeals denouncing violations of the rights to association, property, dignified housing, petition, and legality related to the arrests of La Floresta residents and Fidel Zavala. UNIDEHC has also submitted notices to various United Nations rapporteurs and issued an alert to the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders regarding these arrests. Amnesty International called on President Nayib Bukele to ensure that human rights defenders, community leaders, and civil society organizations can work without fear of reprisals.
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. They have emphasized the particular concern over Zavala's detention, as he has been an eyewitness to torture in Salvadoran prisons.
The concerns regarding possible retaliation against UNIDEHC and Zavala are not new. 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 the political persecution of Zavala, who is the only formerly incarcerated person to publicly denounce abuses occurring in Salvadoran jails under the State of Exception.
These arrests also came on the heels of the February 13 arrest 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.
"I am a CISPES supporter because continuing to fight for social justice and a more people-centered country means continuing the dream and sacrifice of thousands of my fellow Salvadorans who died for that vision.” - Padre Carlos, New York City
