Two reports of possible Satanic cult involvement in violent acts were found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. In the first case, a six-year old Dutch girl was decapitated on 18 January 1997 in San José (La Nación 21 Jan. 1997). According to the report, investigators, who arrested the child's mother, were considering the possibility that the child's death could have been part of a Satanic ritual (ibid.).

In the second case, four youths were arrested on 14 January 1999 in connection with the desecration of graves in Alajuelita Cemetery and the theft of skulls and other human remains (ibid. 16 Jan. 1999). According to La Nación, all those arrested were believed to be involved in a Satanic cult operating in San José's southern suburbs (ibid.), with local authorities reporting that the group had at least 30 members (ibid.). La Nación alleged that members of the cult, described as fans of 'heavy metal' rock music, had stolen the human remains in order to use them in Satanic rituals in uninhabited mountain areas near Alajuelita (ibid.). Subsequent reports on either incident could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, according to the director of the Latin American Socio-Religious Studies Program (Programa Latinoamericano de Estudios Sociorreligiosos [PROLADES]), this cult is likely an "amateur group that was just experimenting with some supposed Satanic-type rituals they had read about in their heavy metal subculture" (24 Sept. 1999). The director of PROLADES further stated that

I do not know of any formal Satanic groups in Costa Rica, although there is an occult element in Costa Rican culture that is linked to the Animistic American Indian belief systems that existed here at the time of the Spanish Conquest (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

La Nación (San José(. 16 January 1999. Irene Vizcaíno. "Caen 4 por profanación." http://www.nacion.co.cr/ [Accessed 27 Sept. 1999]

_____. 21 January 1997. Rónald Moya. "Extraño móvil rodea decapitación de niña." http://www.nacion.co.cr/ [Accessed 15 Sept. 1999]

Programa Latinoamericano de Estudios Sociorreligiosos (PROLADES), San José, Costa Rica. 24 September 1999. Correspondence from Director.

Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 1995-Sept. 1999.

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 1995-Sept. 1999.

International Council on Cultism and Ritual Trauma Website.

La Nación [San José]. 1996-Sept. 1999.

National Clearinghouse on Satanic Crime in America Website.

La Prensa Libre [San José]. Jan.-Sept. 1999.

Unsuccessful attempts to contact two oral sources.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, WNC.