Salem Mennonite Church will host the Salvadoran Human Rights Association (ASDEHU) 2016 speaking tour on Thursday, March 10 at 7pm. Bethany Loberg, of SMC, currently works as an interpreter for the organization and will be at the event entitled “The New Generation of Salvadoran Human Rights Defenders—Standing up to Disappearance in the Midst of Violence”. Speakers include human rights legal defender, Marina Ortiz, Founder and Director of ASDEHU. Relatives of recently disappear…ed youth will share their stories in hopes of raising awareness about El Salvador’s history of extreme repression and threats. The country currently struggles with a complex situation of violence, rooted in long-time economic inequality, gangs and deportation. The numbers of disappearances among young people is on the rise; over 2,000 in 2014. ASDEHU works with relatives of disappeared youth, providing legal counsel and seeking full investigations and trials. The U.S. is complicit in the roots of the current violence and American solidarity in support of human rights defenders remains crucial.