Climate Convergence supported this important action demanding justice for five water defenders from Santa Marta, El Salvador.
Check out this Webinar for more info:
Join us Wednesday, January 10th, at 4 pm in front of the Consulate of El Salvador in Vancouver (1111 Melville Street) as we rally to demand justice for the five water defenders from Santa Marta, El Salvador.
These activists face trumped-up charges for their anti-mining stance, a cause crucial for safeguarding their community’s water and rights.
In March 2017, El Salvador became the first country to ban open-pit mining – a huge win in a David-versus-Goliath story! This ban was the culmination of more than a decade of struggle of the Salvadoran people to protect their small country and its precious water from attack by global mining companies.
Today, this ban is under threat. Communities are organizing again after learning that the current government wants to resume mining in the country. Five human rights and water defenders who played a vital role in the 2017 historic ban on metals mining were detained on January 11, 2023.
Our rally marks CoDev’s first action since the pandemic, and we aim to gather in solidarity with our community, urging the Salvadoran government to drop these unjust charges.
Let’s stand together in solidarity with global actions in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C.
This fight is about protecting not just land but the fundamental rights of those defending it! ✊🏾✊🏽✊🏻
In the link on BIO, you can find the letter signed by 185 Academics and Lawyers Calling on the Attorney General of El Salvador to Drop Charges against Water Defenders and respect Human Rights. The document also expresses “grave concern about the criminalization of environmentalists, the systematic violation of human rights, and the flagrant undermining of democracy in El Salvador perpetrated under the ongoing State of Exception.”
Join us, and let’s make our voices heard together!
#santamartanoestasola#libertadparalos5#santamartaisnotalone
#ElSalvador
#internationalsolidarity