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President Bukele: End the attacks on human rights defenders and community organizers!

Send an urgent email to President Bukele calling on him to halt the persecution of human rights and land defenders!

On February 25, Salvadoran police arrested Fidel Zavala, a prominent Salvadoran human rights defender and spokesperson for the grassroots Community and Human Rights Defense Unit (UNIDEHC) and 23 leaders of the community of La Floresta, whom UNIDEHC had been supporting in a legal fight against the eviction of over 100 families from their community.

On March 14, an organized crime court sent to six months pre-trial detention on charges of belonging to an “illicit group” - the charge frequently used to allege gang participation. The move sidelined international alarm over the risk to Zavala's life should he be returned to prison after having publicly denouncing the torture and abuse he had witnessed while previously detained for 13 months on a charge for which he was subsequently found innocent.

Two attorneys with UNIDEHC, Ivania Cruz and Rudy Joya, also face serious “illicit group” charges at an organized crime court. Cruz and Joya represent several high-profile political prisoners and many victims of arbitrary arrest under the State of Exception and have filed multiple legal action against government officials.

While the Bukele government has frequently persecuted community leaders, unionists, and student organizers under the guise of his war on gangs, this is an alarming escalation.

Amnesty International is circulating an Urgent Alert & asking people from around the world to contact Salvadoran authorities and advocate for the safety of Fidel Zavala, the La Floresta leaders and members of UNIDEHC and an end to the attacks on human rights defenders.

To send an email directly to Bukele’s office, use this automatic form.

If you prefer, you can also write your own based on Amnesty International's Urgent Action here (suggested text is the same)

Folks in Canada: please check out additional suggestions for contacting the Canadian Embassy from Amnesty International Canada here.

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President Bukele: Release human rights defender Fidel Zavala and community leaders from La Floresta

President Nayib Bukele

Subject: Release human rights defender Fidel Zavala and La Floresta community leaders

Message:

I am writing to express my deep concern over the detention of Fidel Zavala, spokesperson for the Unidad de Defensa de Derechos Humanos y Comunitarios (UNIDEHC), as well as the raid on the organization’s offices and the home of its director, lawyer Ivania Cruz. UNIDEHC has played a key role in exposing serious human rights violations, particularly those linked to the state of emergency. These events are alarming, as they appear to be part of a broader strategy to criminalize human rights defenders in the country. According to available information, these actions took place shortly after UNIDEHC supported a complaint before the Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos regarding the detention of community leaders from La Floresta, who have been fighting against the forced eviction from their lands. Following this complaint, at least 20 more individuals from this community have reportedly been detained, heightening concerns about increasing repression against those advocating for land rights and community organizing. Moreover, the detention of Fidel Zavala appears to be a direct act of retaliation and intimidation due to his work in documenting and denouncing torture, deaths, and other abuses in prisons under the state of emergency. His testimony has been crucial in exposing these violations both nationally and internationally, raising serious concerns that his arrest is intended to silence his work and discourage further reporting of state abuses. His detention places his physical and psychological well-being at serious risk. Given the gravity of this situation, I urge you to take immediate action to ensure the physical integrity and due process rights of Fidel Zavala and all individuals detained in connection with the La Floresta case. It is imperative that they are not subjected to inhumane detention conditions or violations of their right to defense. It is crucial to prevent Zavala from being placed in the custody of officials he has previously denounced for torture and deaths in detention centers. Furthermore, I strongly urge you to take all necessary measures to ensure that human rights defenders, community leaders, and civil society organizations can carry out their work without fear of reprisals. This includes ending the misuse of criminal law to persecute and criminalize the legitimate defense of human rights. Sincerely,

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