Piscataway Indian Nation
P.O. Box 131
Accokeek, Maryland
20607
(301)932-0803
January 28, 1996
Ms. Claudia Ricco
Amnesty International
London
FAX 011-44-171-956-1157
Dear Claudia:
Once again we are requesting your help in solving the grave problem that
Chief Adrian Esquino Lisco is confronting. As we informed Amnesty
International recently. Chief Esquino has been the target of death threats
presumably from individuals linked to the Salvadoran government. Please
find the attached conununication from the National Association of
Indigenous El Salvadorians(ANIS) that we received today.
Apparently, the documentation that has reached El Salvador regarding
appeals for the safety of Chief Esquino has not been heeded by the
government or publicized by the press. It appears that, rather than
improving the situation, tho government has stepped up the threats
against Chief Esquind, his family, and other ANIS members. On Saturday,
January 27, several men armed with rifles and wearitig face paint,
surrounded the house of Mr. Maximiliano Bran Garcia, resident of the Las
Hojas municipality (where 74 ANIS members were massacred in 1983),
threatened him and declared that they would carry out a new massacre in
Las Hojas. In addition, they stated that they would kill Chief Esquino.
We believe that these actions are motivated by the fact that the
investigation for the 1983 massacre has been reopened. The government
has therefore. taken measures against ANIS, Chief Esquino and his family.
As you know, the Las Hojas case brought considerable international
attention and placed the Salvadoran government under intense scrutiny.
The US ambassador to El Salvador personally visited the site and numerous
human rights organizations lent their support to ANIS.
Despite what the publicity campaign, the peace process in El Salvador has
not helped ANIS at all. Despite a 65,000-person membership and a place in
the political scene since 1952, ANIS needs were not taken into account in
the Chapultepec agreements between the government and the guerrillas.
As a showcase of disregard for indigenous people's rights, the Salvadoran
government has not signed ILO's Agreement 169 which calls for
recognition of the rights of indigenous nations. Some right-wing sectors
and long-time ANIS enemies believe that this lack of political space has
left the organization in such a vulnerable state that threats and attacks can
be carried out with impunity.
The Piscataway Indian Nation is extremely concerned with these events.
ANIS has the support of many indigenous organizations including the
League of Indigenous Nations of the Western Hemisphere of which we are
founding members. We thank you for your past efforts in helping ANIS
and Chief Esquino and respectfully urge you to insist in seeking that the
Salvadorain government put an end to thIs injustice.
Sincerely.
Chief Billy Redwing Tayac
cc: President Armando Calderon Sol
Organization of the American States
United Nations Human Rights Center
International Labor Organization
United States Department of State
United States Embassy in El Salvador
David Goyette
Co-director
First Nations Resource Network, Inc/Red Sticks Press
PO Box 59
St Petersburg, Fl 33731
813-821-6604
813-821-8804 fax
sfuwki@scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us
90:3603/264
1:3603/263.2