============= In the upcoming El Salvador elections Salvadoran immigration officials are detaining and in some case deporting foreign election observers. (This is contrary to clauses in the constitution of El Salvador.) There is no reason for this unless the current right wing government plans on massive fraud. (The left is expected to win there.) Given El Salvador's dependence on international trade and aid, there is no way they would do this without at least tacit U.S. consent.
For various reasons (the upcoming U.S. election, recent discoveries by the administration that the U.S. does , after all, need the rest of world) the U.S. government is more vulnerable to popular pressure than it has been a while - not a lot, but a non-zero number. So please:
. Call the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador - over the weekend, call 011-503-234-2316, on weekdays call Annie Pforzheimer, the Counselor for Political Affairs at (011) 503-278-4444 > x2025 - and: · Demand that the U.S. Embassy call the Salvadoran Ministry of Government (Ministerio de Gobernación) to insist that they allow all international observers into the country. · Insist that the U.S. Embassy pressure the head of the Immigration Department to respect El Salvador's electoral code which guarantees international observers the right to receive a visa of entry to the country as well as freedom of circulation and mobility. · Express concern for the many detained U.S. citizens and their access to human rights officials and lawyers. . Don't accept "concern" as sufficient response. Emphasize (politely please) that no one believes the Salvadoran government will do this if the U.S. is seriously interested in stopping it - that the U.S. is fully responsble for any human rights violations or electoral fraud it allows in this election. .Call your Congresscritter and Senators and ask them to pressure the Whitehouse, State Department and U.S. Embassy
Additional information can be obtained from Cispes http://www.cispes.org/
Below is the full alert. Last I heard the number of detainees was up to 80.
>March 13, 2004
>
>Action Alert!!!
>
>Repression Against International Elections Observers in
>El Salvador: 5 Detained, others under pressure and
>denied entry
>
>In an attempt to obstruct democracy in the coming
>elections, Salvadoran immigration officials are currently
>detaining, denying entry, and harassing international elections
>observers. Yesterday - Friday, March 12 - four U.S. citizens
>were detained in El Salvador's international airport when they
>tried to enter the country to observe the coming presidential
>elections. Immigration authorities detained them for over five
>hours, telling them that they would not be allowed entrance to
>the country. Only after officials from the Human Rights Office
>arrived in the middle of the night and advocated on their behalf
>were the observers released.
>
>This morning, just hours after the first group was
>released, another observer was detained. Immigration officials
>located another observer who was waiting for the detained
>observer in the airport and harassed her and threatened her with
>detention. Another observer was taken into isolation and
>interrogated before being allowed to enter the country. There is
>word that at the time of writing this report there are at least 40
>international observers being held in detention. Today lawyers
>from the Human Rights Office are being denied access to the
>detained observers.
>
>These detentions and repression tactics are part of a
>purposeful strategy to obstruct democracy in El Salvador. El
>Salvador is on the brink of historic presidential elections,
>culminating months of dirty campaigning that have been marked
>by political violence and aggression by the right-wing. With
>eight days remaining before elections, 600 international
>observers are expected to arrive this week. The right-wing,
>facing the real possibility of losing the presidency in these
>elections, sees the observers as an obstacle to the tactics of
>fraud and corruption they have used in the past to maintain their
>power.
>
>The Salvadoran people have invited international
>observers to help deter or prevent electoral fraud, so it is critical
>that every observer be allowed in the country. Electoral code
>guarantees international elections observers the right to receive a
>visa of entry, the freedom of circulation and mobility, and the
>right to be attended to, especially in their efforts to enter or exit
>the country, by the Immigration and Customs authorities.
>
>Take Action!
>
>1. Call the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador - over the weekend,
>call 011-503-234-2316, on weekdays call Annie Pforzheimer,
>the Counselor for Political Affairs at (011) 503-278-4444
>x2025 - and:
>· Demand that the U.S. Embassy call the Salvadoran
> Ministry of Government (Ministerio de Gobernación)
> to insist that they allow all international observers into
> the country.
>· Insist that the U.S. Embassy pressure the head of the
> Immigration Department to respect El Salvador's
> electoral code which guarantees international observers
> the right to receive a visa of entry to the country as well
> as freedom of circulation and mobility.
>· Express concern for the many detained U.S. citizens
> and their access to human rights officials and lawyers.
>
>2. Consult CISPES's web site - www.cispes.org - to find out how you can
>get involved in our on-going campaign against US intervention in
>the Salvadoran elections.