Salvadoran environmental defenders detained for decades-old crimes

Activists worry the arrests are a move by the cash-strapped government to open the country to now banned metals mining

Five prominent environmental defenders who played a crucial role in securing a historic mining ban in El Salvador have been detained accused of civil war era and gang-related crimes, in what rights groups fear is a ruse to restart mining.

Miguel Angel Gamez, Alejandro Lainez Garcia, Pedro Antonio Rivas Lainez, Antonio Pacheco and Saul Agustin Rivas Ortega were detained on Wednesday in Cabanas in northern El Salvador, accused of killing an alleged army informant more than 33 years ago during the brutal civil war that claimed 75,000 lives.