Human Rights Alert

The Events of

Marco Antonio Sarmiento Martínez’s

Brutal Torture and Assassination

November 16, 2012

Since March of 2005, when the Romero Community settled in Tonacatepeque, community members have been threatened by farmers from the Hondonada Cooperative due to a land dispute.  There are 277 manzanas (about 478 acres) of land that form the Vertientes and Guayacán Property, which belongs to the Salvadoran Institute for Agrarian Reform-ISTA. Many communities (November 2^nd, Paso Puente, Romero Community), cooperatives (Sagrisa, Distrito Italia, La Hondonada, Guayacán), and independent farmers live on and farm the land.  The government has negotiated with each community, cooperative, and independent farmer.  They have offered 8.5 manzanas (about 14 acres) for the 78 families that make up the Romero Community.  They have offered the cooperatives and independent farmers ¾ of a manzana (about 1.29 acres) per family.  The Romero Community has accepted the negotiation.  However the cooperatives want 2+ manzanas (about 3.45 acres) per family (which there is not enough land for) and they want to appropriate all of the land and will not accept the negotiations with ISTA.

Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad’s

9^th International Election Observation Mission

Final Report: Executive Summary

The CIS’s 9th International Election Observation Mission was comprised of 100 observers from 12 different countries: USA, Canada, Norway, Venezuela, Germany, United Kingdom, Basque Country, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Australia and El Salvador.  We observed the elections in 16 municipalities in five departments of the country.  We would like to thank the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for providing us with our mission accreditation as well as pertinent information.  We also want to thank the following groups for taking the time to share their analysis and information, as well as explaining the context and the electoral process: the political parties, the Election Oversight Board, the Legislative Assembly’s Commission for Electoral and Constitutional Reforms, the JEDs, the JEMs, the National Registry of Naturalized Persons, the Attorney General, the Human Right’s Ombudsperson, the National Civil Police, Social Organizations, the UCA, various embassies, and several candidates.

Click here to download the full report in Spanish.  

These elections were very interesting due to the implementation of the most in-depth reforms since 1994.  The following were some of the transcendent reforms: residential voting, the possibility to vote for the face of a candidate and not just the party flag, and for the first time the participation of independent candidates.

The CIS’s Mission’s Primary Objectives

• To carry out an objective observation of the electoral process in order to contribute to strengthening democracy in El Salvador through the realization of free, transparent, equal, and fair elections.
• Create a secure environment for voters in order to stimulate democratic participation.
• To point out the weaknesses, faults, inconsistencies or threats observed during the process in order to correct or prevent them in the future.
• To contribute conclusions and electoral reform recommendations that could be implemented according to the experience of other democratic countries.

Carta Abierta:

A:

• Presidente de la República, Honorable Mauricio Funes Cartagena
• Presidente del Instituto Salvadoreño de Transformación Agraria (ISTA), Dr. Pablo Alcides Ochoa
• Procurador para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Dr. Oscar Luna

De:      Asociación de Desarrollo Comunal Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero – ADCMOAR -  Tonacatepeque (conocido como Comunidad Monseñor Romero) 

Re: Defensa de Nuestros Derechos Humanos, incluyendo derecho de la tierra, a una vivienda digna, derecho a servicios básicos como agua y luz, y el derecho al desarrollo. 

Estimados Señores.

Por este medio queremos expresar nuestra frustración e indignación por el hecho de que el gobierno de El Salvador no puede resolver nuestra situación de la pertenencia de nuestra tierra desde marzo 2005, a pesar de que hemos seguido todos los pasos legales indicados por el Fondo Social de Viviendo y luego del ISTA bajo 2 administraciones gubernamentales y 3 diferentes presidentes del ISTA y las recomendaciones de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Justicia de la Asamblea Legislativa en dos distintas Legislaturas, así como tres alcaldes en Tonacatepeque.

COMMUNIQUÈ OF THE 9TH INTERNATIONAL ELECTORAL OBSERVATIONS MISSION

CENTRO DE INTERCAMBIO Y SOLIDARIDAD (CIS)

MUNICIPAL AND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2012

San Salvador, March 13^th, 2012

OBSERVATIONS ON VOTING DAY

Our ninth mission consisted of 100 observers coming from 12 countries: the USA, Canada, Norway, Venezuela, Germany, United Kingdom, Basque Country, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Australia and El Salvador. We observed the elections in 16 municipalities in 5 departments of the country. We would like to thank the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for facilitating information and our credentials as a mission. As well we would like to thank the political parties, the Electoral Monitoring Board, the Commission on Electoral and Constitutional Reforms of the Legislative Assembly, the Departmental Electoral Board, the Municipal Electoral Board, the National Registry of Persons, the Electoral Prosecutor, the Human Rights Ombudsmand, the National Civil Police, social organizations, Universidad Centro Americana, various embassies and other candidates who took the time to share their analysis and information explaining the context and the process of the elections.

Our primary objectives:

• To carry out an objective observation of the electoral process in order to contribute to strengthening democracy in El Salvador through the realization of free, transparent, equal, and fair elections.
• Create a secure  environment for the voters in order to stimulate democratic participation.
• To point out the weaknesses, faults, inconsistencies or threats observed during the process in order to correct or prevent them in the future.
• To contribute conclusions and recommendations of electoral reforms that could be implemented according to the experience of other democratic countries.