El Salvador Perspectives

Since March 2022, the government of El Salvador  reports  it has captured more than 72,600 persons under the State of Exception, bringing the total number of persons imprisoned to more than 100,000 in this country of 6.3 million people.  Respected human rights organizations have denounced thousands of cases of arbitrary detentions, and have compiled reports of abuse and torture in the country's grossly overcrowded prisons. The government of Nayib Bukele has two officials whose nominal responsibilities are to report on and highlight human rights issues within the country, including in its prisons.  The first is the Procuradora para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos or "PDDH". Into English, this is usually translated as Human Rights Ombudsman, and this is an office enshrined in the Salvadoran constitution after the 1992 Peace Accords.  The second is a new post in the Bukele administration called the "Commissioner for Human Rights."    The officials fill...

Raquel Caballero de Guevara El Salvador's Legislative Assembly has elected Raquel Caballero de Guevara, as El Salvador's new Procuradora para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos or "PDDH". Into English, this is usually translated as Human Rights Ombudsman, but I think a better translation is Advocate for the Defense of Human Rights.  Caballero previously held this same position from 2016-19. In her interviews with the Legislative Assembly, Caballero, like all other candidates interviewed by the legislature , expressed no concerns over human rights violations as part of the ongoing State of Exception.  Her new appointment had critics who pointed out that she was sanctioned in 2019 by El Salvador's Government Ethics Tribunal for nepotism when she gave a promotion and salary increase to her daughter-in-law who worked in the office of the PDDH.  Caballero is also on record favoring El Salvador's absolute ban on abortions.   The current PDDH, Apolonio Tobar, soug...

One high profile governmental office in El Salvador has no power and no ability to make or enforce laws.  The Procurador Para La Defensa de Los Derechos Humanos ("Human Rights Advocate" or "PDDH" for its initials in Spanish) is the country's leading human rights monitor, placed as an official position within the government. The post of PDDH was created in the constitution following the 1992 peace accords. The PDDH is to monitor and report on human rights issues in the country, but their power is limited to the power of persuasion and publicity. The PDDH can neither prosecute violators nor pass laws. They can only denounce the human rights violations which they observe.  The person holding the office of Procurador in El Salvador today is Apolonio Tobar.  The current State of Exception has led many domestic and international human rights orgnaizations to denounce what they have seen as serious and ongoing violations of basic human rights standards in Bukele'...

Last week, El Salvador's governmental Advocate for the Defense of Human Rights  (Procuradora Para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, "PDDH"), Raquel Caballero de Guevara, issued a damning report concerning overwhelming evidence of extrajudicial executions by El Salvador's National Civilian Police (PNC).    The report, which covered the period 2014-2018, examined 48 "emblematic" cases of extrajudicial killings in which security forces executed 116 people. The report systematically gathered investigative materials on all the cases examined and was able to identify several patterns.  Most often this type of killing happened in rural areas of the country.   The victims were almost all male, between the ages of 15 and 24, but some were as young as 13 and 14.  More than 60% of the cases came from 2015-16, when the country's overall homicide rate was the highest in the world.  Although police reports claimed that more than 90% of those killed w...

Three months ago, I wrote about a growing water crisis in El Salvador where there has been a decline of 27% in the availability of clean water in the country over the past decade: Why has this happened, when there is a six month rainy season each year?   The problem is that the surface waters in rivers and lakes are contaminated with pollution in much of the watershed that covers El Salvador.   There is the beginning of an effort to clean up the surface waters, but it will be a long time before that effort starts to show results.  The cost of treating contaminated surface water to make it drinkable is quite high.   As a result, much of the potable water used in the country must come from wells which tap the country's underground aquifers.   The country's aquifers are being drained faster than they are being replenished.   The rain water which falls on the surface is not making its way into the aquifers, but instead is running off into rivers and ou...

There appears to be no improvement at all in the situation of violence faced by the LGBTQI community in El Salvador, especially the trans community.  The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called for an investigation into the number of murders of transgender individuals in El Salvador. From a Reuters report : An uptick in deadly violence against transgender women in El Salvador prompted the United Nations on Friday to call for an investigation into crimes against sexual minorities in the conservative Central American country.  So far this year, seven transgender women have been killed in El Salvador, according to the Geneva-based Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Local LGBT organizations put the death toll at 17 through the first four months of the year.  In 2016, at least 25 transgender women were killed over the course of the entire year, according to the local organizations.  Leading transgender activist Kar...

Last month I wrote about how El Salvador's government refuses to acknowledge the reality of people being internally displaced within the country as a result of violence.   This denial comes despite ongoing media coverage and reports of NGOs and others. One part of El Salvador's government, however, is acknowledging, and urging attention to, the problem of forced displacement.   That is the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office (PDDH for its initials in Spanish.     The attention of this office started with a  Report  dated July 28, 2016 under the previous PDDH, David Morales.    The appointment of new PDDF, Raquel de Guevara, did not change this focus.   This was first seen in her  Pronouncement  on October 3, 2016 which focused on the case of Caluco , an entire community which had been displaced.  In that pronouncement the PDDH called for the Salvadoran government to recognize its responsibilities to displaced populations under...

I was outside an office of the National Civilian Police (PNC) in Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, located in a zone afflicted with significant gang activity.   A masked PNC officer strode past me.  He wore the common uniform of PNC officers involved in anti-gang work:  body armor, with an automatic weapon slung over his shoulder and a pistol on his hip.   Our eyes met.  Under his mask I could not tell if he was smiling or frowning at the gringo seated outside the police offices. The pickups filled with heavily armed PNC operatives came and went.   Sometimes they discharged a shirtless man, hands bound behind him with zip cord, and pushed him towards the building.   A large truck rumbled past with heavily armed soldiers carrying automatic rifles. The desk sergeant describes how many people in the zone had disappeared from gang activity so far this year.  She didn't say how many had disappeared for other reasons. Later, we drove past a joint militar...

Raquel Caballero de Guevara I was at two events this week which were also attended by Raquel Caballero de Guevara, El Salvador's new Procuradora para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos or PDDH.   Into English, this is usually translated as Human Rights Ombudsman, but I think a better translation would by Advocate for the Defense of Human Rights.   She has been in her current position since September. In each of the appearances Caballero de Guevara spoke of one of her priorities being programs of " restorative justice ."   As the 25th Anniversary of the 1992 Peace Accords approaches, the PDDH wants to see restorative justice provided for the victims in El Salvador. Both of the appearances of Caballero de Guevara were at events where Father Michael Lapsley was presenting.   Lapsley founded the Institute for Healing of Memories in South Africa and was in El Salvador this week to discuss the process of healing and reconciliation for countries emerging from...

El Salvador has a new Human Rights Advocate within its government.  Raquel Caballero de Guevara is the new "Procuradora para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos" or PDDH.   The position is one which advocates for human rights and denounces their abuses, but has no real power. The election of Caballero de Guevara required a super-majority of votes in the National Assembly, so each of the major parties needed to support her.  She replaces outgoing PDDH David Morales who was unable to garner support from the country's political parties for a second term.   (In the last fifteen years, I don't believe any PDDH has obtained a second term -- if they are doing their job well a PDDH makes the politicians in power uncomfortable as they are held accountable on human rights issues). The issues on the desk of Caballero de Guevara as she commences her job are large.   In the face of a hard line government response to gang violence, the PDDH must address serious and ongoin...

El Salvador's Human Rights Ombudsman David Morales went to El Salvador's Supreme Court on Monday, November 16, the 26th anniversary of the murder of 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter.   Morales was there to file a petition asking the Court to rescind its prior order on extradition of 13 military officers to Spain.   A Spanish court has issued an arrest warrant to require those officers to face justice for the Jesuit massacre, but in 2012, El Salvador's Supreme Court refused the Spanish extradition request. Morales petition probably has no more than symbolic significance.  The Supreme Court has not changed its composition and is highly unlikely to reverse itself.   Also pending in front of the Supreme Court is a challenge to the 1993 amnesty law which has so far prevented the military command from being prosecuted in El Salvador.   That challenge has been pending for years with no sign that a decision is due soon. The crimes of El Salvado...

Oscar Luna, El Salvador's Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH), is warning that a gold mine in Guatemala, close to the border with El Salvador, threatens violations of human rights to water, health, and the environment.   Luna issued a report on October 10, urging president Mauricio Funes to use the executive branch of the government to protect the country's natural and hydrologic resources from the impact of the mine. The mine in question is the Cerro Blanco mine , being developed by the Canadian gold mining company Gold Corp.   The mine is located in southeastern Guatemala near Lake Guija. The lake's waters flow into the Lempa River, El Salvador's most important river, which supplies  people throughout the country. Opposition in El Salvador to the Cerro Blanco mine has been led by the environmental organization CEICOM.   In 2010, David Pereira of CEICOM asserted : "Toxic waste water from the mine will be discharged into the Ostúa river in Guatemala, and wi...

Oscar Luna was re-elected by El Salvador's National Assembly as the country's Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH for its Spanish initials). One of the highest profile members of government in El Salvador has no power and no ability to make or enforce laws. The post of PDDH was created in the constitution following the 1992 peace accords. The PDDH is to monitor and report on human rights issues in the country. His power is only the power of persuasion and publicity. The PDDH can neither prosecute violators nor pass laws. He can only denounce the human rights violations which he observes. According to LPG , for his new term, Luna has promised to promote creation of units in such areas as the rights of indigenous peoples, HIV-AIDS, rights of immigrants and the creation of an assistant ombudsman for the elderly.

World Water Day is Saturday, March 22. To commemorate the date, El Salvador's Human Rights Ombudsman, Oscar Luna, issued a statement on the fundamental natuare of water as a human right. Here is a translated excerpt: The right to water is a fundamental human right, essential for the realization of a life of dignity and a precondition for the realization of other rights, in as much as water is a determinant of public health and thus for the rights to health, to environment, to food, and to enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and all other rights. It is essential to have water in sufficient amounts and quality and treatment and sustainable exploitation, to meet the core needs of the population and to ensure the good health and proper development of present and future generations. Luna calls on Salvadoran government and society to take measures to address environmental degradation to the hydrologic cycle. He decries a general lack of interest by the government in address...

El Salvador's National Assembly selected a new Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH for its initials in Spanish), Oscar Luna, today. Luna was selected in preference to returning for a third term the current PDDH, Beatrice de Carillo. Luna appears to be well-qualified. He is a lawyer and notary, teaches human rights, and worked in the office of the PDDH in Santa Ana. In his pre-selection interview with legislators, Luna announced that one step he would take as PDDH is to create a school of human rights in the country. Leaders of all the political parties pledged to support Luna in his new role.

Dr. Beatrice de Carillo , El Salvador's Human Rights Ombudswoman (PDDH in Spanish), spoke recently at the 25th anniversary celebration of the SHARE Foundation in Washington, D.C. Her extensive remarks covered all aspects of the present reality in El Salvador and are well worth reading. Here is short excerpt where she describes some of the unfulfilled promise of the Peace Accords which ended El Salvador's twelve year civil war: As it has been proved, the texts concerning the Peace Accords contain abundant material about political reforms that needed to be made to assure a pacific coexistence between political actors. For better or for worse, some 14 years later after the signing of the Peace Accords, all political actors still make use of institutional channels to get access to power. However, it hasn't been possible to go beyond political accords. In few words, the end of the civil war didn't mean a variation of the country's distribution of wealth. On the contr...

El Salvador's human rights ombudswoman, Dr. Beatrice Alamanni de Carrillo, is the subject of a lengthy profile in the Los Angeles Times titled A Diva Defends the Law . Here's an excerpt: With her abundant Cleopatra-esque eyeliner and exquisitely tailored suits, she might not be the first person who comes to mind when envisioning a steely defender of the rule of law in a country where the law often doesn't seem to matter. Alamanni is El Salvador's ombudswoman for human rights, a position created by the 1992 peace treaty that ended this nation's civil war. She runs a government ministry staffed largely by young, and underpaid, female lawyers. They are official government watchdogs, intended as a buffer to the arbitrary exercise of state power that helped lead to the war. "There are people who think that since I am a bourgeois lady, from a high social circle, I must be crazy to be mixed up with human rights," said the 62-year-old, who has been the target of...

Following Saturday's verdict which convicted only one person of the Gilberto Soto murder, El Salvador's human rights ombudswoman, Beatrice de Carrillo was highly critical of the presiding judge. Diario CoLatino reported that the PDDH issued a public censure against the judge for blocking access to the investigative material in the case and not pursuing the theory that Soto was murdered for his union activities. The public censure is the highest form of sanction the office of the PDDH can issue and has only been issued twice before by Carrillo. In the US, officials of the Teamsters union were highly critical of the investigation and prosecution. As quoted on North Jersey.com : The Teamsters Union called for a new investigation Monday into the 2004 murder of a Cliffside Park labor leader in El Salvador after a jury there acquitted two of three people charged in his death. The verdict, reached Saturday, bolsters claims that Teamster Gilberto Soto was killed not in a domestic...

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) issued a lengthy memorandum this week criticizing the Bush administration's plans to establish an International Law Enforcement Academy in El Salvador for training Latin American police forces. Here is a taste of the memorandum: On June 10, the National Center for U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities reported Saca'’s remarks that “all Salvadorans should feel proud that the United States has chosen us” to host the ILEA. The Center also reprinted a statement by Jaime Francisco Vigil, Director of the Salvadoran National Public Security Academy (ANSP), in which he suggested that the choice of El Salvador was made, in part, because its police force is the "most honest, nearest to the people, and is not corrupt like in other parts of the world.”" To the contrary, during the height of the Salvadoran civil conflict, tens of millions of dollars were passed under the table to senior officials of the Salvadoran security forces by U.S. emba...

This is the fourth in a series of posts on Tim's El Salvador Blog regarding the work of Dr. Beatrice Alamanni de Carrillo, the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH) in El Salvador. In the past 7 months, two high profile slayings took place which worry labor and social activists in El Salvador. In November, Salvadoran-born Teamster Gilberto Soto was murdered, and in February, the watchman of the Salvadoran Lutheran University (ULS) was murdered and left hanging in a tree. In each of these cases, the police arrested suspects, proclaimed the incidents to be "common crime" and declared the cases closed. In each of these cases, colleagues and relatives of the victims do not believe the crimes have been solved and fear that political motives are behind the crimes. The office of the PDDH has reviewed the investigations of both cases and issued reports highly critical of the police investigation. In the Soto case, the PNC declared that the murder had been masterminded by Soto's mothe...