Document #1195342
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Please find attached some articles that
refer to the Executive Anti-Narcotics Unit (UEA) of the now-defunct
National Police of El Salvador, including descriptions of the
organization and of some of its activities.
The creation of the UEA was one of the
first actions of the Anti-Narcotics Commission (COAN), established
by then-president Cristiani in January 1990 (International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report 1 Mar. 1991). The UEA was
"led by a select group of El Salvador Armed Forces (EFAS) and
National Police officers"; its personnel were "carefully selected
and its members receive[d] salaries above those of other police
units," thus enabling the UEA "to recruit quality manpower from
other security forces" (ibid.). The Attorney General's office
assigned, during the unit's first year, "two assistants to work
with case officers when arrests were made" (ibid.).
Created under a new, comprehensive
anti-drugs law, the UEA received from the Ministry of Finance
"significant resources to cover salaries, construction of the
unit's new headquarters and vehicles" (ibid.). The unit also
received vehicles, communications equipment and computers from the
United States government (ibid.; GAO Reports 2 Aug. 1994).
In 1994 the United States government stated that the UEA had proved
"to be effective despite its small size," and pointed out that the
unit had to rely "on the military for air and maritime capability"
(ibid.).
In September 1993 the UEA was incorporated
into the new National Civilian Police (PNC) force, and "granted
wider investigative authority than was previously authorized"
(ibid.). At the time, the unit's weapons consisted mainly of T-65
rifles (Jane's Intelligence Review 1 July 1994). Although
it is not clear from the consulted sources what other weapons the
UEA counted with, one report states that the UEA and the Criminal
Acts Investigation Commission (Comision de Investigaciones de
Hechos Delictivos, CIHD), at the time they became part of the PNC,
had been "allocated some US$2 million worth of communications
equipment, US$3million of computerised systems, as well as 135
vehicles, mainly Nissan and Toyota police cruisers, jeeps and pick
ups" (ibid.). The PNC's inventory at the time included ".30 M1/M2
carbines, 5.56 mm T-65s, and a few 7.62 mm. G-3 rifles," and it
received "all the U.S.-made Beretta and Browning 9 mm. pistols from
the army" (ibid.).
Since late 1993 "a marked drop in PNC
cooperation with ONUSAL" (the United Nations Observer Mission in El
Salvador) was reported, with some analysts attributing this to "the
influence of PNC deputy director Oscar Peña Duran," a former
army captain and ex-chief of the UEA (Notisur 10 June
1994). Peña Duran resigned in May 1994, but he reportedly
"had a marked influence on the formation and deployment of the
PNC," having "successfully placed many ex-UEA agents throughout the
ranks of the PNC, in violation of an agreement by the government
that personnel from the UEA would be limited to the PNC's
anti-narcotics division" (ibid.).
One source states that, according to PNC
officers, "former UEA agents often took over interrogations which
were being handled by PNC officers who graduated from the ANSP"
(the Academia Nacional de Seguridad Publica, or National Academy of
Public Secutiry) (ibid.). The same report states that "observers
expressed concern that the UEA's notorious methods of secrecy and
disregard for civil liberties could become the modus operandi for
the PNC," and adds that according to an ANSP instructor, "the PNC
is adapting itself to the reality of the UEA, rather than the
reverse" (ibid.).
In the dismantling of the National Police,
the Salvadorean government insisted on incorporating the existing
anti-narcotics and special investigations units into the PNC
(The Washington Post 15 Mar. 1995). According to one
report, "diplomats and monitors said both units, before
incorporating, allowed hundreds of members of the old security
forces to sign up," and "then, the bloated units were incorporated"
(ibid.).
Another source reports that the National
Police "drug fighting unit was transferred, nearly intact, from the
old force to the new" (The Christian Science Monitor 3
Feb. 1995). ONUSAL reported in July 1994, after a two-month
investigation, "some worrisome results about the anti-narcotics
unit," pointing out that "the members failed to honour promises
made when joining the civilian police force and overextended their
jurisdiction" (ibid.).
After the government promised that the unit
would take a course on the rule of law, which normally lasts six
months, the members took a five-day course with no attendance
control or exams that was described by the head of ONUSAL as
"bogus" (ibid.). ONUSAL "concluded that the unit 'functioned with
an excessive level of autonomy,' answering only to its own leaders
and failing to recognize the authority of the regional police
chiefs" (ibid.). The observer mission also "found that 71 people
were improperly added [to] the drug-fighting unit" (ibid.). Upon
ONUSAL's recommendation, the government fired the improperly hired
personnel, triggering a strike by them and other police agents
(ibid.). Please consult the attached February 1995 articles
referring to this strike for additional information.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB 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.
References
The Christian Science Monitor
[Boston]. 3 February 1995. Gene Palumbo. "Strike by Police Unit in
El Salvador Shakes Foundation of Peace." (NEXIS)
GAO Reports [Washington, DC]. 2
August 1994. "Efforts to Control Drug Trafficking Through Central
America." (NEXIS)
International Narcotics Control
Strategy Report [Washington, DC]. 1 March 1991. "Country
Analysis by Regions—Mexico and Central America: El Salvador."
(NEXIS)
Jane's Intelligence Review
[London]. 1 July 1994. Julio Montes. "El Salvador: Combat Arms
Update." (NEXIS)
NotiSur—Latin American
Political Affairs [Albuquerque, N. Mex.]. 10 June 1994. "El
Salvador: ONUSAL Denounces Human Rights Violations by New National
Civil Police (PNC)." (NEXIS)
The Washington Post. 15 March
1995. Final Edition. Douglas Farah. "Salvadorans Complain Postwar
Crime Defeating Rebuilt Police Force." (NEXIS)
Attachments
The Christian Science Monitor
[Boston]. 3 February 1995. Gene Palumbo. "Strike by Police Unit in
El Salvador Shakes Foundation of Peace." (NEXIS)
International Narcotics Control
Strategy Report [Washington, DC]. 1 March 1991. "Country
Analysis by Regions—Mexico and Central America: El Salvador."
(NEXIS)
NotiSur—Latin American
Political Affairs [Albuquerque, N. Mex.]. 10 June 1994. "El
Salvador: ONUSAL Denounces Human Rights Violations by New National
Civil Police (PNC)." (NEXIS)
Radio YSKL [San Salvador]. 8 February
1993. "El Salvador: Cristiani on Cooperation Against Drug
Trafficking; Use of Army Against Crime." (BBC Summary 11 Feb.
1993/NEXIS)
Reuters. 12 June 1993. AM Cycle.
"Smugglers Caught in Salvador Linked to Major Cartels." (NEXIS)
The United Press International (UPI). 2
February 1995. BC Cycle. "Salvadoran Police Protest Turns Violent."
(NEXIS)
The Washington Post. 15 March
1995. Final Edition. Douglas Farah. "Salvadorans Complain Postwar
Crime Defeating Rebuilt Police Force." (NEXIS)