Justice for Soto
Labor Activist’s Killers Must be Found
On November 5, 2004, Teamsters Port Division Representative Gilberto Soto was assassinated in Usulutan, El Salvador. Soto, an American citizen, had returned to his native country to meet with Central American trade union leaders and port drivers, and to document worker rights violations.
The murder remains unsolved.
In a gruesome echo of the Salvadoran government’s response to the death squad assassinations of the 1980s, the Salvadoran Interior Minister labeled Soto’s death a “common crime” within days of his murder—and before the government had launched any investigation.
One Salvadoran official took the assassination seriously and sprang into action: Beatrice de Carrillo, the ombudsman and director of the official Salvadoran Human Rights Office. Though her office is mandated by the Salvadoran constitution, the police refused to give her access to the investigation files or the officers conducting the investigation. She predicted that the government would soon make an arrest, call the murder a “crime of passion” and then after the media attention faded, ultimately drop the case.
That’s exactly what happened. Within a week the government of El Salvador arrested Soto’s mother-in-law, claiming that she hoped to collect the Teamsters’ million-dollar life insurance policy. In fact, Soto’s policy was for only $50,000 and his children were the beneficiaries, not his wife. Fourteen months later, Soto’s mother-in-law was acquitted. The government has continued to obstruct, frustrate and harass Dr. de Carrillo. She has also received death threats because of her ongoing search for the truth.
On November 15, 2006, the International Labor Organization (ILO) issued a report that demanding that the Salvadoran government reopen the case file on Soto’s murder.
The Teamsters union has joined with labor leaders in El Salvador to demand that the true killers be brought to justice. If we allow this murder to go unsolved, labor and human rights leaders will never be safe in El Salvador. Tell Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ambassador to the United States from El Salvador Rene Leon to demand that the Salvadoran government reopen the investigation into the Gilberto Soto murder and protect and the work of the Salvadoran Human Rights Ombudsman.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Justice for Soto
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
The Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
His Excellency Rene A. León
Ambassador of El Salvador
Washington, D.C. 20036
Dear Secretary Rice and Mr. Ambassador León:
We call on you to demand that the government of El Salvador immediately reopen the investigation into Gilberto Soto's assassination and support the work of the Salvadoran Human Rights Ombudsman.
Soto, an American citizen and Teamsters Union Representative, was murdered in Usulutan, El Salvador on November 5, 2004.
Beatrice de Carrillo, the ombudsman and director of the official Salvadoran Human Rights Office, has been investigating the murder, but has been met with constant resistance from the Salvadoran government. She has also received death threats for investigating the cover-up of Soto's assassination.
Adding to the international outcry over this case, on November 15, 2006, the International Labor Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, released a report that condemns the Salvadoran government's handling of the case.
If we allow this murder to go unsolved, labor and human rights activists will never be safe in El Salvador. We request that you instruct the Salvadoran government to conduct a fair, objective and transparent investigation, and to take action to end attacks on and harassment of labor and human rights advocates in El Salvador.
Furthermore, the U.S. government and the government of El Salvador must fully support and protect the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman.
Sincerely,
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