Document #1213811
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Please find attached several 1995 articles
that provide information on social and human rights issues in Costa
Rica. These add to recent Responses to Information Requests
available through your Regional Documentation Centre, such as
CRI20917.E of 16 June 1995 and CRI20510.F of 9 May 1995, on
domestic violence, and CRI19006.E of 29 November 1994 and
CRI17538.F of 20 May 1994 on the situation of homosexuals.
The two most recent articles attached to
this Response were published in the 1 September 1995 issue of
Central America Report. One refers to significant
drug-interdiction actions in which the Rural Assistance Police
(GAR), the Drug Control Police (PCD) and the Judicial
Investigations Unit (OIJ) were involved (2-3). The report mentions
Costa Rica's role as a trans-shipment route for drugs and money
laundering. It also deals with Costa Rica's low-priced growing
domestic drug market, which results from the fact that local
traffickers are being paid for their services in drugs (ibid.). A
May 1995 report also refers to alleged links between Costa Rican
personalities and drug trafficking (Latin American Regional
Reports 18 May 1995, 3).
The other recent 1 September 1995
Central America Report attachment refers to the disbanding
of the Centre of Police Information (CIP), a unit created in 1994
to replace the disbanded Crime Prevention Unit (5). The article
mentions police brutality as a problem that "undermines the
often-promoted image of the country as an island of tranquil
democracy defying the authoritarian regional trend," adding that
"it demonstrates that the abolition of the Costa Rican army in 1949
does not necessarily imply the absence of militaristic methods of
citizen control today" (ibid.).
One of the most recent articles refers to
the deaths of environmentalists who had been working on
controversial cases involving a transnational lumber and paper
company and a Canadian mining corporation (IPS 15 Aug. 1995).
Controversy arose over handling of the case by police, who
attributed their deaths directly or indirectly to alcohol, despite
contradictory evidence (ibid.).
Four attached articles report on the
situation of legal and illegal foreign residents in Costa Rica, an
agreement between the Costa Rican and Nicaraguan governments on
this matter and travel restrictions between these countries
(Central America Report 7 July 1995, 1-2; IPS 19 Jan. 1995;
Latin American Regional Reports 6 Apr. 1995, 3; Tico
Times 3 Feb. 1995).
One attached news item refers to the
precedent-setting conviction of a man for raping his wife
(Central America Report 5 May 1995, 6). Another report that
refers to violence against women reports on the death of women who
had sought protection from authorities (Latinamerica Press
22 June 1995, 6). According to the report:
Worried by this and other such cases where
the law failed to protect women, a group of lawyers and academics
recently studied Costa Rica's legal treatment of violence against
women. They concluded that there were laws in place, the problem
was the bureaucracy, insensitivity and the ignorance of lawyers,
police and judges, and a lack of information available to citizens
(ibid.).
Another attachment refers to a new training
program for teaching police officers how to handle cases of
domestic violence (Central America Report 24 Mar. 1995, 2).
Finally, another article reports on allegations of political
corruption and fraud surrounding a tourist development project
(ibid. 28 Apr. 1995, 6).
The other attachments refer to labour and
social unrest deriving from the economic policies of the
government, as well as other social problems. These include reports
on strikes by doctors, teachers and public sector workers,
responding to cuts in services and pensions, and other
"neo-liberal" economic policies. For further details on this
subject, please consult the attached documents.
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.
Central America Report
[Guatemala City]. 1 September 1995. "Costa Rica: Drug Network
Disbanded."
_____. 1 September 1995. "Costa Rica:
Police Unit to be Disbanded."
_____. 7 July 1995. "Costa
Rica/Nicaragua: The Central American Republic of
Airrecú."
_____. 5 May 1995. "Rape
Conviction."
_____. 28 April 1995. "Costa Rica:
Problems at Papagayo."
_____. 24 March 1995. "Sensitivity
Training."
Inter Press Service (IPS). 15 August
1995. Maricel Sequeira. "Environmentalists Pursued by Trail of
Death." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 7-20 Aug.
1995, Vol. 10, No. 14, pp. 1-2)
_____. 19 January 1995. "Costa Rica
Denies 'Witch Hunt' for Nicaraguan Immigrants." (Central America
NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 9-22 Jan. 1995, Vol. 9, No. 25, p.
3)
Latin American Regional Reports:
Caribbean & Central America [London]. 18 May 1995. "Costa
Rica: Business Figure Linked to 'Cartel'."
_____. 6 April 1995. "Costa
Rica/Nicaragua: Tension Grows Over Illegal Immigrants."
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 22
June 1995. Vol. 27, No. 23. "Law Takes Slap in the Face."
Tico Times [San José]. 3
February 1995. John McPaul. "Costa Rica, Nicaragua to Ease
Migrants' Woes." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]
6-19 Feb. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 1, p. 2)
Central America Report [Guatemala
City]. 1 September 1995. "Costa Rica: Drug Network Disbanded," pp.
2-3.
_____. 1 September 1995. "Costa Rica:
Police Unit to be Disbanded," p. 5.
_____. 28 July 1995. "Teachers' Strike
Ignites Protests." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]
24 July-7 Aug. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 13, pp. 1-2)
_____. 14 July 1995. "Costa Rica: PLN:
Administration vs. Party," pp. 2-3.
_____. 7 July 1995. "Costa
Rica/Nicaragua: The Central American Republic of Airrecú,"
pp. 1-2.
_____. 26 May 1995. "Costa Rica: Full
Speed Ahead for Figueres," pp. 4-5.
_____. 5 May 1995. "Costa Rica:
Government and Opposition Agree!" pp. 5-6.
_____. 5 May 1995. "Rape Conviction," p.
6.
_____. 28 April 1995. "Costa Rica:
Problems at Papagayo," p. 6.
_____. 24 March 1995. "Sensitivity
Training," p. 2.
Inter Press Service (IPS). 15 August
1995. Maricel Sequeira. "Environmentalists Pursued by Trail of
Death." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 7-20 Aug.
1995, Vol. 10, No. 14, pp. 1-2)
_____. 6 May 1995. "Child Prostitution
Big on Capital's Streets." (Central America NewsPak [Austin,
Tex.] 1-14 May 1995, Vol. 10, No. 7, pp. 2-3)
_____. 20 April 1995. "Layoffs Further
Threaten Social Stability." (Central America NewsPak
[Austin, Tex.] 17-30 April 1995, Vol. 10, No. 6, p. 2)
_____. 19 January 1995. "Costa Rica
Denies 'Witch Hunt' for Nicaraguan Immigrants." (Central America
NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 9-22 Jan. 1995, Vol. 9, No. 25, p.
3).
Latin American Regional Reports:
Caribbean & Central America [London]. 18 May 1995. "Costa
Rica: Business Figure Linked to 'Cartel'," p. 3.
_____. 6 April 1995. "Costa
Rica/Nicaragua: Tension Grows Over Illegal Immigrants," p. 3.
Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 22
June 1995. Vol. 27, No. 23. "Law Takes Slap in the Face," p. 6.
Miami Herald. 20 July 1995. John
McPhaul. "Costa Ricans Take to Streets Against Government Spending
Cuts." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 10-23 July
1995, Vol. 10, No. 12, p. 3)
Tico Times [San José]. 17
February 1995. Gabriela Quirós. "Medical Strike Spreads."
(Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 20 Feb.-5 Mar. 1995,
Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 2-3)
_____. 3 February 1995. John McPaul.
"Costa Rica, Nicaragua to Ease Migrants' Woes." (Central America
NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 6-19 Feb. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 1, p.
2)