Antécédents de l'affaire: Santos Neftali Ruíz Martínez
Le 4 avril 2015, le Père Santos Neftalí Ruíz Martínez se tenait avec le Père Carlos Castillo devant la chapelle de la ville de Nejapa et attendaient l'arrivée des fidèles pour la messe eucharistique, lorsque deux membres de la police nationale civile les ont abordés. Les policiers ont commencé à les interroger et ont ordonné au Père Santos Neftalí Ruíz Martínez de lever sa chemise pour voir s'il avait des tatouages ou s'il portait une arme. Bien que le défenseur se soit présenté et ait indiqué qu'il est prêtre, les policiers ont appelé du renfort.
Le Père Santos Neftalí Ruíz Martínez est "organisateur de communauté", militant contre les mines et défenseur des droits humains à Cabañas au Salvador. Il est attaqué et continuellement menacé à cause de son travail en faveur des droits humains.
Le Père Neftali est président du Comité Ambiental de Cabañas – CAC (Comité environnemental de Cabañas), une organisation qui œuvre pour sensibiliser la communauté au sujet des risques sanitaires et environnementaux de la pollution au cyanure causée par les mines d'or. Le Père Neftalí Ruíz Martínez a participé à la sixième Plateforme de Dublin en septembre 2011.
On 4 April 2015, Father Santos Neftalí Ruíz Martínez, together with Father Carlos Castillo, was standing outside the chapel in the municipality of Nejapa, waiting for people to arrive for the Eucharistic mass, when two members of the National Civil Police approached them. The police officers began to interrogate them and ordered Father Santos Neftalí Ruíz Martínez to lift up his shirt to reveal if he had tattoos or was carrying a weapon. Despite the human rights defender identifying himself as a priest, the policemen called for back-up. A patrol car arrived promptly at the scene with a further two officers. The interrogation began again, with one particular officer verbally attacking the priest and accusing him of being a former member of a gang. The police officers phoned back to headquarters and allegedly spoke with their superiors. Father Santos Neftalí Ruíz Martínez explained that he is a human rights defender and informed them that he would report the harassment and intimidation to international organisations. In the end the officers registered his name and said that they would not file their report to their superiors if he agreed not to file his own complaint.
The El Dorado mine which the activists oppose is currently non-operational due to a suspension of activities resulting from an ongoing legal case. The operation initially closed after local protests, and the outgoing Salvadoran government refused 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 opened an arbitration case against the Salvadoran government seeking millions of dollars in compensation. In November 2013 Canadian-Australian firm OceanaGold acquired Pacific Rim Mining.
