According to the 23 June 2003 Consular Information Sheet published by the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department of State, El Salvador is considered to be a "critical crime threat country." Moreover, both Canadian and U.S. travel advisories have noted that "armed robbery, carjacking, rape, and kidnapping are ... common throughout the country" (Canada 27 June 2003) and that "[a]rmed assaults and carjackings take place both in San Salvador and in the interior of the country, but are especially frequent on roads outside the capital where police patrols are scarce" (US 23 June 2003). With a murder rate of between 45 (ADITAL 12 June 2003) and 100 homicides (Le Monde Diplomatique Mar. 2002) per 100,000 inhabitants, El Salvador is among "the most violent countries in Latin America" (Freedom in the World 2001-2002 17 July 2002; see also Canada 6 Feb. 2003). According to CIDA, factors contributing to the situation of violent crime in El Salvador are

increasing urbanization and urban poverty, the culture of violence as a legacy of the civil war, the availability of handguns and other weapons, economic disparities and lack of confidence in the nation's institutions responsible for security and justice (ibid.).

With regard to firearm accessibility, the United Nations Development Programme noted that "[a]t least 400,000 firearms circulate throughout the country-claiming responsibility for 70% of the nation's crimes" (UN Aug. 2002).

Various sources reported that a significant percentage of the criminal violence can be attributed to youth gangs whose members number between 20,000 (UN 2002) and 40,000 (Noticias Aliadas 24 Feb. 2003) out of a population of 6.4 million inhabitants (UN 2002). Noticias Aliadas stated that the average age of gang members is 20 years old and that two out of every 10 members are female (24 Feb. 2003). Sources have also noted that "Salvadoran-American gang members deported back to El Salvador from the US have contributed to the rise of street gangs, or 'maras', and organized crime" (Canada 6 Feb. 2003; see also Freedom in the World 2001-2002 17 July 2002; UN 2002). Please see SLV39868.E of 19 February 2003 for more information about youth gangs.

Efforts by the Salvadoran government to curb violent crime have been thwarted by a delay in US-funded plans for community policing programmes, the diversion of US funds for police training to Haiti and budget cuts to the programmes of US-based and Canada-based human rights organizations (Freedom in the World 2001-2002 17 July 2002; UN 2002). According to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2002,

[t]he PNC [National Civil Police, Policia Nacional Civil] is understaffed by about 10 percent, fielding 16,702 officers of its authorized 18,500. Moreover, the PNC's budget is the same as it was in 1997, although hundreds of officers have joined the PNC since then. As a result, police are short of essential equipment, particularly communications and vehicles. In 2003, the PNC's U.S. $134.6 million budget will be cut by U.S. $5 million or about 3 percent. This was the result of government-wide budget cuts (Mar. 2003, sec. 3).

In addition, the Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad (CIS), an organization that "promote[s] solidarity and cultural exchange across borders between the Salvadoran people and others in the search for development and dignity," (CIS n.d.a) reported that the PNC "have instituted an aggressive campaign against the [juvenile] delinquency which includes repressive measures which further threaten the population" (Feb. 2003). Country Reports 2002, in noting that the Office of the Human Rights Defence Attorney (Procuraduria para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, PDDH) had "received 30 complaints of attempted and/or completed unlawful killings by police during the year" and was investigating them concluded that "[s]ome police officers used excessive force and mistreated detainees." (31 Mar. 2003, Sec. 1a). Yet, according to the CIS, the ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA) party "has taken steps to weaken and break the Human Rights Procurator's Office [PDDH]" by passing a law in the Legislative Assembly that would allow the "purging" of the office "without any objective evaluation mechanisms" (n.d.b), and by cutting its budget by half (CIS Feb. 2003).

Nevertheless, the government did prosecute and put in prison 140 police officers in 2002, and the PNC fired "372 employees through ordinary disciplinary procedures and sanctioned 520 others for lesser infractions" (Country Reports 2002 31 Mar. 2003, Sec. 1c). In addition, a year-end report by the United Nations mission to "verify the peace process in El Salvador" stated that, although "much remains to be done to achieve ... effective rule of law" in the country, the PNC is an organization that is "building up its capacity after a period of deterioration" (EFE 7 Jan. 2003).

According to a 10 May 2003 article in CoLatino, the PNC claimed to have captured more than 50 gang members and "important leaders" (maximos dirigentes) in the first three months of 2003. The same article also noted that the police have begun to paint over gang graffiti with the blue colour of the PNC in areas where these gangs are most active, such as the municipality of Soyapango (CoLatino 10 May 2003). Local opinion on whether this tactic will have an impact on reducing gang activity was mixed, with some residents stating that painting over the graffiti is a good idea, and others claiming that the gangs just re-paint their graffiti because they have no fear of the police (ellos no les tienen miedo) (ibid.).

Please see Country Reports 2002 for information about citizen complaints against the PNC and state mechanisms to discipline police officers.

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.

References

Agencia de Informacao Frei Tito para a America Latina (ADITAL). 12 June 2003. "Preocupan altas cifras de violencia en las Americas." http://www.adital.org.br/asp2/noticia.asp?idioma=ES¬icia=7502 [Accessed 27 June 2003]

Canada. 27 June 2003. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), Consular Affairs Bureau. "Travel Report: El Salvador." http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/report-en.asp?country=80000 [Accessed 27 June 2003]

____. 6 February 2003. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). "El Salvador - Bilateral Programming Plan 2002-2007." http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cida_ind.nsf/682f5cd8c017661b8525677d007117d9/085f71e50e00545485256c3600592362?OpenDocument [Accessed 27 June 2003]

Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad (CIS). February 2003. Monthly Bulletin. "CIS Observer Mission Meets with Beatrice de Carrillo, Human Rights Ombudsman." http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/archive/2003-02.htm#Text3 [Accessed 26 June 2003]

____. n.d.a. "History and Mission." http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/history_&_mission.htm [Accessed 3 July 2003]

____. n.d.b. "The Human Rights Network." http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/network.htm [Accessed 26 June 2003]

CoLatino [San Salvador]. 10 May 2003. Beatriz Castillo. "PNC quita grafitis de '18' en la Campanera." http://www.diariocolatino.com/nacionales/detalles.asp?NewsID=1215 [Accessed 24 June 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002. 31 March 2003. "El Salvador." US Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18331pf.htm [Accessed 23 June 2003]

EFE News Service [Madrid]. 7 January 2003. "El Salvador-Peace FMLN: El Salvador Peace Accords Not Yet Fully Implemented." (Global News Wire/NEXIS)

Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties 2001-2002. 17 July 2002. "El Salvador." http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2002/countryratings/elsalvador2.htm [Accessed 23 June 2003]

International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2002. March 2003. "El Salvador." US Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2002/html/17941.htm [Accessed 26 June 2003]

Le Monde Diplomatique [Paris]. March 2002. Karim Bourtel. "Révolutionnaires et/ou gestionnaires: Quant l'ex-guérrilla gouverne la capitale du Salvador." (NEXIS)

Noticias Aliadas [Lima]. 24 February 2003. Edgardo Ayala. "Pandilleros: matar o morir por el barrio." http://www.latinoamerica-online.it/paesi2/salvador1-03.html [Accessed 27 June 2003]

United Nations (UN). August 2002. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "Controlling Firearms in El Salvador." http://www.undp.org/erd/pubinfo/som/august2002.htm [Accessed 26 June 2003]

____. 2002. Chronicle. Vol. XXXIX, No. 3. Nicole Hertvik. "El Salvador: Effecting Change from Within." http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2002/issue3/0302p75_el_salvador.html [Accessed 23 June 2003]

United States (US). 23 June 2003. US Department of State. Bureau of Consular Affairs. "Consular Information Sheet: El Salvador." http://travel.state.gov/elsalvador.html [Accessed 23 June 2003]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

Latinamerica Press

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites:

Amnesty International (AI)

Americas.org

Ananova

Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL)

El Diario de Hoy [San Salvador]

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Latin America Working Group

Library of Congress Country Studies

Peace and Conflict Monitor

La Prensa Grafica [San Salvador]

El Salvador, Policia Nacional Civil (PNC)

El Salvador, Procuraduria para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (PDDH)

San Salvador News

Social Watch

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

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