Ms Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto.

Front Line is deeply saddened by the recent killings of human rights defenders, Mr Ramiro Rivera and Ms Alicia Recinos Sorto, two anti-mining activists in El Salvador.

Further Information

On 20 December 2009 Ramiro Rivera was shot and killed in Cabañas. He was the Vice-President of the Comité Ambiental de Cabañas – CEC (Environmental Committee of Cabañas), an organisation which works to educate the community about the health and environmental risks of cyanide contamination as a result of gold mining operations.

This was followed, on 26 December, by the killing of Ms Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto. Alicia Recinos Sorto was an active opponent of the El Dorado mining operation in Cabañas and a member of CEC, of which her husband José Santos Rodriguez is also a board member. José Santos Rodriguez had received death threats in early 2009. Following the killing of Ramiro Rivera and Alicia Recinos Sorto, staff members at local radio station Radio Victoria also received death threats.

On 20 December 2009, Ramiro Rivera was shot in the head and chest by gunmen who rode up to the side of his pick-up truck as he was driving. A passenger in the vehicle was also killed and a teenage girl was injured. There are reports that a fourth passenger escaped by running into the woods. Ramiro Rivera had been under 24-hour police protection after being shot eight times on 7 August 2009. Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes stated an intention to fully investigate the murder. However, Alicia Recinos Sorto's killing followed on 26 December near her home in Cantón Trinidad, in the municipality of Sensuntepeque, Cabañas. She was shot at about 3.30pm while she was carrying her two-year old child in her arms as she returned from washing clothes in the river. At the time of her death, Alicia Recinos Sorto was eight months pregnant. Her child received a gunshot wound to the foot and is currently receiving medical care.

Alicia Recinos Sorto reported in early 2009 that José Santos Rodriguez had been receiving death threats, and that unidentified armed men had come to their home to look for him. José Santos Rodriguez had reportedly been attacked with a small machete in May 2008, during which he had several fingers cut off from his right hand. The police questioned him in relation to the death threats reported against him, but they did not investigate them. The two killings and the threats against José Santos Rodriguez follow the kidnapping, torture and assassination of Marcelo Rivera, another anti-mining activist, in the nearby area of San Isidro in June 2009, in addition to threats against other anti-mining activists.

Following the killing of Ramiro Rivera and Alicia Recinos Sorto, staff members at local radio station Radio Victoria received death threats. Radio Victoria is a community-based station which works on education and empowerment, particularly with youth. An email sent to 16 staff members says: “Well, we already sent two to the pit, the question is who will be the third… it's not a bad idea to carry on with one of the big mouths from Radio Victoria… the deaths will continue and nobody can stop the revenge already begun, we prefer that the third of the dead should be a presenter, or a correspondent, or anybody else from that damn radio station, the safest target is a presenter, be careful, we’re not playing around this is the new wave of warnings that we’re beginning after killing Ramiro."

Another email has been sent to eight of the 16 people who had received the first threat. It stated: "We've already chosen the next one to die, it's one of the best-known presenters at that radio station, this will be a real blow for all of them at the radio station, today we're not going to make mistakes saying any names we’re just saying that this presenter is better known and that sooner or later this will hurt you we’re going to kill you". On 27 December, six armed men on motorbikes were seen arriving at the home of the head of Radio Victoria's news team, Ms Isabel Gámez. She was out at the time, but the men went into her garden and shone flashlights through the windows; they left when they saw no one inside.

The El Dorado mine which the activists oppose is currently non-operational. Pacific Rim, a Canadian mining company, is currently seeking to have it re-opened despite widespread opposition locally. The operation initially closed after local protests, and the outgoing Salvadoran government negated Pacific Rim's mining permits in late 2008; President Funes furthermore stated his opposition to the project during his 2009 presidential campaign. In response, Pacific Rim have opened an arbitration case against the Salvadoran government seeking millions of dollars in compensation, which is expected to begin early in 2010.

Front Line believes that the killing of Ramiro Rivera and Alicia Recinos Sorto, and the threats against other anti-mining activists, are a direct result of their work in the defence of human rights, particularly environmental rights. Front Line sees this as forming part of a pattern of ongoing harassment of anti-mining activists in El Salvador, and is seriously concerned for the security and physical and psychological integrity of human rights defenders in the region and their families.