The United Church of Canada joins international organizations in celebrating not guilty verdict for Santa Marta Five
On September 24, the presiding tribunal in San Vicente, El Salvador, found five prominent water defenders from Santa Marta, known as the Santa Marta Five, not guilty of charges of murder, kidnapping, and illicit association.
The United Church, as a member of International Allies against Mining in El Salvador, echoes the call for the Salvadoran Attorney General to abstain from further legal action and demands that all civil liabilities are dropped. The charges against Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco, and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega were politically motivated and there was a lack of evidence that they committed any crimes.
“We call on the Attorney General’s office to respect the decision of the tribunal, to abstain from appealing this decision and stop wasting government resources to keep up the farce,” stated Alfredo Leiva from the community of Santa Marta, whose leading members were among those on trial. “Rather than insisting on prolonging this process any further, the Attorney General’s office should apologize to the five and to the community, and should dedicate themselves to investigating the real war crimes, starting with the massacres that were committed against Santa Marta and other communities.”
When the five were finally tried in October 2024, a tribunal dismissed all charges against them due to lack of evidence, and ruled that all five were completely innocent. However, in a ruling that has been widely condemned as a travesty of justice, an appeals court annulled the innocent verdict, allowing the Attorney General’s Office to try them again on the same charges starting February 3 of this year.
Out of their commitment to protect their country’s rivers, the five men led a successful national campaign to ban environmentally destructive mining in El Salvador that culminated in the passing of an historic 2017 law prohibiting toxic metals mining, a ban recently overturned by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and his party.
The leaders, originally arrested on January 11, 2023, represent staff and community members of Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES), a United Church of Canada Mission and Service global partner. The United Church has partnered with ADES throughout the organization’s 30-year history.
"We celebrate that the Water Defenders have on two occasions now been found innocent of all the charges laid against them. However, we are deeply concerned that the judicial system may continue to be used as a tool to persecute the leaders for their role in protecting the country’s scarce water resources,” said Christie Neufeldt, Global Partnerships Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean, The United Church of Canada. “We ask that the findings of the two courts be respected. We look forward to the day when the Defenders can return to their community and families in full liberty, free from the threat of further persecution."
Representatives from the governments of Canada, France, and Germany appeared at the court yesterday to observe the ruling, a reminder that governments and civil society around the world are watching this case closely.