On El Salvador’s Independence Day, about 1,500 activists marched in San Salvador demanding the release of political prisoners and denouncing arbitrary arrests under President Bukele’s gang crackdown. The event highlighted tensions between the government’s tough security policies and human rights concerns that affect daily life for locals and visitors alike.
Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans still lack access to potable water in their homes and many more go days without water due to existing scarcity and contamination of rivers, lakes, and streams—all of which would be exacerbated by renewed mining operations, now allowable due to the government’s repeal of its ban on large-scale metallic mining in December 2024. Since that time, the government has increased its use of the penal system to persecute those who peacefully exercise their right to organize for environmental protections of the nation’s drinking water.
Since December 2024, Catholic and Protestant churches and faith-based civic organizations have been mobilizing their opposition to the repeal. In March 2025, the archbishop of San Salvador presented petitions signed by 150,000 people urging repeal of the December 2024 law. In May, the Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church in El Salvador reiterated its opposition to metallic mining in a pastoral letter, emphasizing that access to water is a fundamental human right and a shared inheritance entrusted to all people by God.
We echo the popular social movement in El Salvdaor—backed by church leaders—and urge that the government:
(1) reinstate the ban on metallic mining
(2) heed the call of church leaders and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor to end the persecution and criminalization of those defending the right to clean water
(3) drop all criminal charges against water defenders and human rights lawyer
During the 2023 presidential election season, grassroots organizations called for a National Strike in Guatemala. Indigenous leaders played a major role in organizing protests to protect voters’ rights and demand the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras (sanctioned by the US for her corruption). The Kaqchikel authority of Sololá was one of the first to organize, participating in a protest in front of the Public Ministry (MP) that would create a domino effect throughout the country.
On August 23, 2025, Esteban Toc Tzoy, the former deputy mayor of the Kaqchikel Indigenous Municipality of Sololá, was arrested while driving to a medical appointment. His arrest follows that of fellow Indigenous leaders Héctor Cháclan and Luis Pacheco from the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, who were arrested in April and remain in pretrial detention on similar charges (cf our letter of 04 MAY 2025). Indigenous authorities believe Toc Tzoy’s arrest and criminalization is an act of retaliation for having filed a legal complaint demanding Porras’ resignation. After an initial hearing on September 5, Toc Tzoy was granted conditional release (placed under house arrest), yet he remains unjustly indicted for terrorism among other crimes.
The use of anti-terrorism laws to criminalize Indigenous leaders for protesting injustice has become a common tactic employed by Guatemala’s Public Ministry. We are urging that authorities follow the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee relating to the use of terrorism charges, and guarantee due process and integrity in Toc Tzoy’s case.
The United Nations has documented a crisis of press freedom in Honduras, noting systematic attacks on journalists as a means of obstructing accountability and weakening democracy. The case of Jorge Posadas is emblematic of this broader crisis for journalists who continue their vital work under threat.
Based in Santa Rosa de Copán, Copán Department, Jorge Posadas has been reporting on corruption allegations and environmental destruction linked to Aníbal Erazo Alvarado, mayor of Santa Rosa de Copán. In recent weeks, he has been victim to escalating threats, surveillance, and harassment. He has reported being followed by unidentified vehicles observed near his home and workplace. In a news article published on September 1, Jorge Posadas stated: “I am very worried about my life and that of my family because strange vehicles are following us.”
We remind authorities in Honduras of their obligation to address the entrenched impunity surrounding attacks on journalists.
The Córdoba Controversial Social Foundation-Cordoberxia coordinates the Human Rights Platform of the Colombian Caribbean, covering several departments in the Caribbean zone of Colombia. One of its leaders is Nestor Moreno Ríos. In addition to his work with Cordoberxia, Nestor is also active in several other human rights organizations, including Southern Córdoba Human Rights Network and Observatory of Human Rights of Southern Córdoba (OBDEHSUC). Moreover, Nestor directs the Sociopolitical Think Tank of Córdoba and the Corporación Córdoba Diversa, a nonprofit that works on civil rights and inclusion of the sexual diversity community in his home city of Montería.
When he went to his gym for his 6am morning work out on August 5, a gunman entered and tried to shoot him. Thankfully, the gun jammed after repeated tries, which allowed Nestor just enough time to find refuge and call for help. The rapid action of the police avoided a tragedy.
We urge authorities in Colombia to consult with Nestor Moreno Ríos to devise protection measures, in strict accordance with his wishes.
The BIA is the appellate body that reviews immigration judge decisions, and when it designates a decision as precedential, like Yajure Hurtado [ a migrant from Venezuela who entered the US in November 2022], its reasoning is binding on all immigration judges unless a federal court says otherwise. This means that in immigration courts across the country, thousands of detained immigrants who were eligible for a bond hearing last week now have no recourse to be released during their immigration court proceedings unless they file—and win—a federal lawsuit.
SINALTRAINAL (the national food and beverage workers union) has been campaigning for fairer conditions and an end to discriminatory practices towards its members at Nestlé’s four plants in Colombia. Nestle has retaliated, illegally firing unionized workers.
Paula Andrea Rojas Franco, Daniela Salazar Ospina, and Alicia Cardiles Fontalvo are all active in the Women and Diverstiy Caucus of SINALTRAINAL. Paula Rojas and Daniela Salazar are involved in a labor dispute at the Nestlé plant in Dosquebradas. Alicia Cardiles has led efforts to denounce gender-based abuses and human rights violations at Seatech International Inc. (producer of Van Camps tuna) in Cartagena.
In July, all three (on separate occasions) were followed and video recorded by unknown individuals on motorcycles. The surveillance and intimidation targeting these union leaders is suspicious. These incidents are occurring in the context of a broader pattern of violence aimed at SINALTRAINAL. In April, the vice president of a local branch, was shot to death in a public establishment in Valledupar.
We urge the government of Colombia to mplement protection measures for these three union leaders, in strict accordance with their wishes and in consultation with SINALTRAINAL.
Alejandro Henríquez and José Ángel Pérez are being prosecuted for the alleged crimes of public disorder and aggravated resistance. The investigation phase is now scheduled to conclude in December 2025.
Defense attorneys confirmed the court’s decision to LA PRENSA GRÁFICA, as did the organization Foro del Agua, which announced the decision on its accounts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The organization called the decision “unjust” and “arbitrary,” as it lengthens both men’s time in custody without any evidence of their alleged crimes.
Washington, D.C. — The terms of a previously secret grant agreement between the United States and El Salvador facilitating the Trump-Vance administration’s practice of disappearing people indefinitely from U.S. territory into El Salvador’s notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison without due process, legal justification, or public accountability have, for the first time, been made available as part of an ongoing lawsuit. ...
