Some news in Spanish
has gone out about this case on the list, and as the CEAL message said earlier
today, the 8 SIGEESAL union members were released on bail yesterday evening.
More news to come…
-burke
Anti-privatization Protesters from
SIGEESAL Health Care
CISPES
Update
September 10,
2007
Members of the
SIGEESAL union denounce the capture of 8 of their members (photo:
CEAL)
Eight members of the Salvadoran General Hospitals Union
(SIGEESAL) were illegally arrested on September 4 for participating in a
demonstration against the privatization of the national health system back on
July 6. The eight jailed union members are:
Ana Luz Ordoñez Castro, Mirian Ruth
Castro Lemus, Elsa Yanira Paniagua, Noemí Barrientos de Pérez, Ana Graciela de
Carranza, Jorge Emilio Pérez, Manuel Trejo Artero and Anemias Armando
Cantadeiro. All being charged with public disorder and damage to
private property.
SIGEESAL is a member of the
Salvadoran Union Front (FSS) and has strengthened its organizing and mobilizing following a
merger with the national hospitals association (ANTMPAS). The new union
brings together workers in the entire national health care system, and they have
organized a campaign to denounce the corruption within the system, the extreme
shortage within hospitals, and the privatization of some services within the
largest hospitals.
Last week the FSS presented a resolution
to the Legislative Assembly calling the captures a blatant violation of the
constitutional right to protest, and more specifically, a violation of the
recently approved International Labor Organization (ILO) agreements 87 and 98
which grant workers the right to organize and unionize. The demands of
Salvadoran Union Front are for the immediate release of the protesters and for
the respect of the ILO agreements. Health Minister Guillermo Maza has been
clear about government intentions to privatize health care and has declared
“zero unions” as one of the goals in his administration.
These arrests have reminded the social
movement of the extent to which Saca and his government are willing to go to
fulfill their plans of water and health care privatization. Just two
months ago, 14 people were arrested in the department of Suchitoto for
protesting against the privatization of water and will soon go to trial under
the anti-terrorism law; now, eight more members of the movement have been jailed
for protesting against the privatization of health. For more information go to “Action Alerts” at www.cispes.org, and expect a new alert about
how to respond to the SIGEESAL situation
soon.
“Social cleansing”
groups inside Salvadoran Police
Almost a year after both the governmental Human Rights
Defense Office and the Catholic Church’s Human Rights Commission reported the
existence of social cleansing groups inside the National Civilian Police (PNC),
lawyers have found enough evidence to prosecute Sergeant Nelson Arriaza and
police officer Carlos Chevez Hidalgo for the assassination of eight people in
the departments of San Miguel and
The western