Rapid Response Network

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

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.

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.

Violent land conflicts have persisted in the Bajo Aguán Valley in the coastal department of Colón for the past 50 years. In the 1970s, many campesinos benefited from the government’s agrarian reform. But in their zeal to expand monoculture plantations for cash crops, large agro-industrial companies like Dinant have encroached on campesino farm land. When campesino organizations began “recuperating” (recovering) their rightful lands, the companies retaliated with violence, often with the assistance of state security forces and sometimes the backing of the courts (that issue illegal eviction notices).

In 2022, President Castro signed an agreement to establish a commission to investigate and resolve land conflicts in the Bajo Aguán. That has not been fully implemented. In the meantime, campesinos are shot and killed while driving to work or working their fields.

We call to mind the many campesinos killed this year, including:

JAN 2: Arnulfo Díaz (member of Cooperativa Brisas del Aguán), forced off the road and shot by armed actors at the Río San Pedro

FEB 2: José Luis Hernández Lobo and Suyapa Guillén (active members of the Empresa Campesina Gregorio Chávez), shot when their vehicle was intercepted by armed actors in Rigores

MAY 31: Josué Esaú Aguilar Cárcamo, 22-year-old son of Guadalupe Cárcamo (active member of Empresa Campesina Gregorio Chávez), shot in Rigores while riding his motorcycle home from school

JUL 17: Carlos Antonio Rivas Canales (member of Empresa Campesina Gregorio Chávez) and his father Ramón Rivas Baquedano (member of Empresa Asociativa Campesina de Producción La Aurora), ambushed by heavily armed men while on their way to work

JUL 26: Héctor Otoniel Hernández Castro (member of Empresa Campesina Gregorio Chávez and brother of Wendy Castro, the sub-coordinator of Plataforma Agraria), shot armed men while working in the fields in Cuyamel, Trujillo.

AUG 1: Abel Monroy (father-in-law of an active member of Cooperativa El Chile who had previously been threatened), shot while driving to work in Bonito Oriental

We urge the government to take immediate action to prevent further unnecessary deaths.

Indigenous communities in the southern border state of Chiapas have long been victim to political violence, paramilitary violence, extractivist dispossession, territorial and religious conflicts, and organized criminal activity.

FRAYBA (Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center) has a well-respected reputation for defending their human rights. But as FRAYBA conducts its legitimate work of denouncing the systematic rights violations against communities (and accompanying them in their search for justice), its members are subject to repeated attacks and accusations. The context of harassment, intimidation, threats, and systematic surveillance of FRAYBA members has escalated.

In late July, the newly-appointed director of FRAYBA, Dora Robledo, suffered a raid on her private home. This was the second such incident in the past ten months.

We are urging that federal authorities and those in Chiapas ensure that the protection measures issued on behalf of FRAYBA by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights be enforced.

Five members of the Indigenous Garifuna communities of Trujillo and Sante Fe are being prosecuted for defending their ancestral lands; their names are Cesia Guillén, Cindy Fernández, Gilma Bernárdez, Luis Calderón, and Cesar Geovanny Bernárdez. All of the defendants are members of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH), an organization that has been helping the Garifuna in their fight to defend collective property. 

The defendants have been unjustly accused of forced displacement and aggravated usurpation by Dagoberto Castillo Castillo and Niobi Constantinidi Padilla. Castillo claims to be a bona fide purchaser of a property in the San Antonio area of Santa Fe Colón, despite the fact that the Garifuna people hold its property title dating back to 1882. Their fight is supported by a report from the National Agrarian Institute (INA), indicating that the land is located within Garifuna ancestral territory and that its sale is void.

This state-backed legal attack is part of a systematic act of dispossession against Garifuna communities. Central to its execution has been the repression of land defense movements through deliberate criminalization and persecution of those leading the defense of their ancestral homes. 

The courthouse in Trujillo, which is now effectively dedicated to the persecution of the Garífuna people, was built on Garifuna territory. The initial hearing for the five defendants was held there on August 11.

One of the significant outcomes of the Peace Accords in 2016 was the installation of the JEP (Special Jurisdiction for Peace), which is a justice component of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition (SIVJRNR). The JEP functions to investigate, prosecute, and punish the most serious crimes related to the armed conflict that occurred before December 1, 2016, seeking to prioritize victims, clarify the truth, and repair the damage. One of the key partners in the work of the JEP is the civil society organization CSPP (Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners).

Active in the Atlántico Department chapter of CSPP is 27-year-old Nilson de Arco. Last month, as he was meeting in a public space with three other human rights defenders to make a recording, a man on a motorcycle approached them. He got down from his motorcycle and shot Nilson de Arco directly. Nilson was rushed to the hospital and given specialized medical attention.

The assassination attempt on Nilson de Arco must be considered in the context of the increasing number of threats, harassment, and violence perpetrated against human rights defenders in Colombia.  We urge the government to take the necessary measures to ensure that human rights defenders, community leaders, and civil society organizations can carry out their work without fear of reprisals.