The long wait for Sara Rogel's release continues, despite the fact that
a Salvadoran judge granted her parole
on Monday
.
Rogel was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crime of aggravated homicide committed by allegedly having an abortion, but will continue in prison because the prosecution announced that it will not waive its right to request, that is, it
will try to appeal the court's ruling.
"The Salvadoran prosecutor's office could have made the decision not to have to appeal this probation and simply allow Sara to reunite with her family, but they decided to use their resources to
continue criminalizing women in a way that is truly indescribable,
" explains Paula Avila -Guillen, executive director of Women's Equality Center, in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.
Rogel has already served ten years deprived of liberty in the Minor Detention Center of the city of Zacatecoluca, which she entered at the age of 22 when she was a student.
Prosecutors have until midnight next Saturday to present an appeal for revocation or appeal.
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“What happened was something unexpected, it was not what we were expecting after such a big fight.
There was no need for
the prosecution to attack women in this way
, we hope to have other results in the coming days, ”Avila-Guillen asserts.
In El Salvador, women who have complications during pregnancy are often suspected of having had an abortion, which is prohibited in all circumstances and is classified as aggravated homicide, a crime whose prison term is 30 years.
The Salvadoran state has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, sentences can reach 50 years in prison.
It is estimated that
between the years 2000 and 2019, 181 women suffered obstetric emergencies and were criminalized for alleged abortions or the charge of aggravated homicide.
This Monday a hearing will be held to analyze Sara's case, feminist organizations see it as an opportunity to condemn the criminalization of abortion and obstetric emergencies.Women's Equality Center
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Sara's case
On October 7, 2012, Rogel was transferred to the National Hospital of Cojutepeque in serious health after suffering a severe fall in the laundry room of her house, for
which she lost a lot of blood and fainted
.
That accident caused him an obstetric emergency.
“She was doing laundry but the floor was wet, so she slipped and fell.
At that time she was alone at home and the loss of the pregnancy happened.
When her family arrived, they found her
unconscious and with a strong hemorrhage, that's why they took her to the hospital
”, explains Morena Herrera, Salvadoran activist and president of the Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion.
Although she had tears and bleeding, Rogel was arrested the next day at the health center where police officers handcuffed her to the bed where she was receiving treatment.
Later, the authorities accused her of aggravated homicide, presuming her guilt "without any evidence," according to experts from the Center for Reproductive Rights for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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On September 12, 2013, she was sentenced by the Sentencing Court of Cojutepeque
to 30 years in prison.
“In El Salvador there is
great discrimination in the application of justice against all women,
especially those who are young and poor.
There is also a kind of sanction for sexuality against women, in Sara's case what happened to her was that she had a complication at the end of her pregnancy.
It makes no sense that they have condemned her to such a harsh penalty, ”asserts Herrera.
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Irregularities and arbitrary detention
Various organizations for the defense of women's rights such as the Feminist Collective for Local Development and the Center for Justice and International Law maintain that their legal process is characterized by a series of irregularities:
-
Rogel was arrested without a warrant.
- A "less harmful figure" was not verified before decreeing his preventive detention, but the authorities improperly alleged the figure of flagrante delicto.
-In addition, she did not have legal assistance, and her presumption of innocence was violated because she was sentenced without probative material.
Nor did he have an adequate defense.
Due to this accumulation of contradictions and discriminatory measures, in 2019 the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled on the situation of Rogel and Berta Arana and Evelyn Hernández, two women who are also imprisoned after suffering obstetric emergencies, saying that he considered that "the deprivation of liberty" and his "subsequent sentences" are
"arbitrary and contrary to international law"
, for which he recommended his release.
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"In mid-2020, a habeas corpus action was filed requesting the release of Sara, and of 13 other imprisoned women whose detentions were discriminatory and arbitrary, but also these women were in a special situation of vulnerability due to COVID-19" , explains Edward Pérez, senior legal advisor at the Center for Reproductive Rights.
And he adds: "Although the Salvadoran constitutional chamber agreed with us, so far the progress towards the implementation of that decision is very slow due to COVID and
the negligence of the constitutional chamber
."
Despite all these measures, and the recent ruling issued by the Second Penitentiary Surveillance Court of the town of Cojutepeque in the case of Rogel,
both she and the other 13 women included in the habeas corpus remain in prison
.
The Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women and the prosecution did not respond to requests for comment during this report.
Hundreds of Salvadoran women during a demonstration to demand health, comprehensive sexual education and public policies that contribute to preventing pregnancies in girls and adolescents, in San Salvador, May 2021. EFE
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Sara's judicial future
While the remaining hours until Saturday pass, the legal team and various organizations that collaborate in Rogel's case continue to make plans to achieve his release.
If the prosecution decides to appeal,
the defense has five days to answer and then the case would be presented to a higher court
, so Rogel could remain imprisoned for up to a month and a half more.
"We have another mechanism in place called review of sentence and it is more complicated, but we have managed to gather and present all the documentation in case their prompt release is not achieved," explains Herrera.
However, there is another option.
It is possible that the prosecution will not present any action for the purpose of appeal, something that the defense does not rule out.
That would mean that Rogel
could be released on Sunday
or, if a judge cannot be found to execute the release order because it is the weekend, he would have to wait until Monday.
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On March 7, more than 5,000 women came out to protest before International Women's Day in San Salvador.
According to data from the Organization of Salvadoran Women for Peace,
at least 47 femicides were reported in the country between January and March of this year.
That represents a 67.8% increase compared to the first quarter of 2020 when only 28 cases were recorded.
The Salvadoran prosecutor's office reported
96 missing women in the first two months of 2021
, and also registered at least eight daily complaints of crimes related to sexual violence in the first quarter of this year.
According to data from various defense organizations, there are still
17 women sentenced to 30 years in prison in El Salvador
for alleged abortions or the charge of aggravated homicide
.
“There is an institutional scaffolding of persecution in which doctors denounce women who undergo abortions because they are afraid,
the prosecution seeks to incriminate the victims
and the judicial system has a very draconian application against young women living in poverty.
We have to keep fighting, keep insisting so that there are no more cases like Sara's, ”asserts Herrera.
