| EL SALVADOR Republic of El Salvador Republica de El Salvador Joined United Nations: 24 October 1945 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Click here Updated 08/31/10 |
| CAPITAL |
| POPULATION |
| CHIEF OF STATE |
| SELECTION PROCESS |
San Salvador
7,185,218 (July 2010 est.)
President and Vice President elected on the same ticket by popular
vote for a single five-year term; election last held 15 March 2009
Next scheduled election: March 2014
vote for a single five-year term; election last held 15 March 2009
Next scheduled election: March 2014
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
SELECTION PROCESS
According to the El Salvador Constitution the President is both
the Chief of State and Head of Government
the Chief of State and Head of Government
| DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS |
| ETHNIC GROUPS |
Mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%
| RELIGIONS |
Roman Catholic 57.1%, Protestant 21.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.9%, Mormon 0.7%, other religions 2.3%, none 16.8% (2003 est.)
| GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE |
Republic with 14 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Legal system is based on civil and Roman law with traces of
common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court
Executive: President and Vice President elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held last held 15
March 2009 (next to be held in March 2014)
Legislative: Unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (84 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve
three-year terms)
elections: last held 18 January 2009 (next to be held in March 2012)
Judicial: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly)
common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court
Executive: President and Vice President elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held last held 15
March 2009 (next to be held in March 2014)
Legislative: Unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (84 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve
three-year terms)
elections: last held 18 January 2009 (next to be held in March 2012)
Judicial: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly)
| LANGUAGES |
Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
| BRIEF HISTORY |
Before the Spanish conquest, the area that now is El Salvador was composed of three great indigenous states and several
principalities. The indigenous inhabitants were the Pipils, a tribe of the nomadic people of Nahua settled down for a long time in
central Mexico. The region of the east was populated and governed by the Lencas. The North zone of the Lempa river was
populated and governed by Mayan the Chortis. Early in their history, the Pipil became one of the few Mesoamerican indigenous
groups to abolish human sacrifice. Otherwise, their culture was similar to that of their Aztec and Maya neighbours. Remains of
Nahua culture are still found at ruins such as Tazumal (near Chalchuapa), San Andrés (northeast of Armenia), and Joya de Cerén
(north of Colón). The first Spanish attempt to subjugate this area failed in 1524, when Pedro de Alvarado was forced to retreat by
Pipil warriors. In 1525, he returned and succeeded in bringing the district under control of the Captaincy General of Guatemala,
which retained its authority until 1821, despite an abortive revolution in 1811. It was Alvarado who named the district for El
Salvador ("The Savior.") The first "shout of independence" in El Salvador came in 1811, at the hands of criollo elite. Many
intellectuals and merchants had grown tired of the overpowering control that Spain still had in the American colonies, and were
interested in expanding their export markets to Britain and the United States. The Indigenous uprisings aimed at Spanish subjugation
plagued the territory at this time, and they were re-interpreted by the Republicans to serve their purpose and show popular support
for independence. Thus a movement grew amongst the middle class criollo and mestizo classes. Ultimately, the 1811 declaration of
independence failed when the vice royalty of Guatemala sent troops to San Salvador in order to crush the movement. The
momentum was not lost however, and many of the people involved in the 1811 movement became involved in the 1821 movement.
In 1832, Anastasio Aquino led an indigenous revolt against creoles and mestizos in Santiago Nonualco, a small town in the province
of San Vicente. The source of the discontent of the indigenous people was lack of land to cultivate. The problem of land distribution
has been the source of many political conflicts in Salvadoran history. The Central American federation was dissolved in 1838 and El
Salvador became an independent republic. El Salvador in its early history was impenetrably localized, aided by its geography, its
unbridged rivers that could only be crossed at fords and its lack of any linking highway that could take wheeled vehicles. The first
highway for wheeled traffic was begun in 1855. Thus the "Fourteen Families" (actually many dozens of families) that have controlled
El Salvador's history were all but independent territorial magnates. El Salvador's early history as an independent state—as with
others in Central America—was marked by frequent revolutions; not until the period 1900-30 was relative stability achieved. From
the 1930s to the 1970s, authoritarian governments employed political repression and limited reform to maintain power, despite the
trappings of democracy. The National Conciliation Party was in power from the early 1960s until 1979. Fidel Sánchez Hernández
was president from 1967 to 1972. In July 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras in the short Football War. During the 1970s, the
political situation began to unravel. By 1979, leftist guerrilla warfare had broken out in the cities and the countryside, launching what
became a 12-year civil war. A cycle of violence took hold as rightist vigilante death squads in turn killed thousands. One of the most
infamous death squad assassinations occurred when the Archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Romero, was murdered in 1980 after
having publicly urged the U.S. government not to provide military support to the El Salvadoran government. In 1989, ARENA's
Alfredo Cristiani won the presidential election with 54% of the vote. His inauguration on June 1, 1989, marked the first time that
power had passed peacefully from one freely elected civilian leader to another. In 1986, the Human Rights Commission of El
Salvador (CDHES) published a 165-page report on the Mariona men's prison. The report documented the routine use of at least
40 kinds of torture on political prisoners, and that U.S. servicemen often acted as supervisors. In early 1990, following a request
from the Central American presidents, the United Nations became involved in an effort to mediate direct talks between the two
sides. After a year of little progress, the government and the FMLN accepted an invitation from the UN Secretary General to meet
in New York City. On September 25, 1991, the two sides signed the New York City Accord. During the 12-year civil war, human
rights violations by both the government security forces and left-wing guerrillas were rampant. The accords established a Truth
Commission under United Nations auspices to investigate the most serious cases. The commission reported its findings in 1993. It
recommended that those identified as human rights violators be removed from all government and military posts, as well as
recommending judicial reforms. Thereafter, the Legislative Assembly granted amnesty for political crimes committed during the war.
Among those freed as a result were the El Salvador Armed Forces (ESAF) officers convicted in the November 1989 Jesuit
murders and the FMLN ex-combatants held for the 1991 murders of two U.S. servicemen. The peace accords also established the
Ad Hoc Commission to evaluate the human rights record of the ESAF officer corps. In accordance with the peace agreements, the
constitution was amended to prohibit the military from playing an internal security role except under extraordinary circumstances. El
Salvador is struggling to cope with growing gang violence, perpetrated by groups such as Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street
Gang. The violence is exacerbated by ongoing social unrest, economic devastation from the civil war, the breakdown of families and
social structures, and the presence of refugees turned gang members from the United States who came home or were deported to
El Salvador after 1996. Agriculture was one of the sectors of the economy that was most affected by the civil war. Therefore, one
of the biggest social problems in post-war El Salvador has been rural unemployment. This has been the explanation for increased
migration to the cities and to other countries, especially the United States. Unofficial estimates say that the United States is the home
of around 2 million Salvadorans. The ARENA governments that have been in presidency since 1989 have implemented a program
of policies of liberalization of the labor, goods and financial markets. In a context of unprotected markets, El Salvador's economic
development has therefore relied on the income provided by exports. Since the international coffee prices fluctuate so much,
ARENA governments have regarded them unreliable. Because of this, they have tried to implement economic policies that stimulate
the growth of non-traditional exports. The most important of these policies are measures that favor foreign investment in "maquilas",
which are tax-free industrial complexes for companies from abroad that outsource their production activities, in order to take
advantage of cheap labor force. However, the foreign currency coming into the Salvadoran economy has not been able to keep up
with the value of the goods imported by Salvadorans, which has implied a growing deficit in the trade balance. The only thing that
has kept the Salvadoran economy in balance is the growing transfers received by Salvadorans from their family members living
abroad, especially in the United States. American dollars became legal tender in El Salvador and the accounting unit of the financial
sector in January 2001.
Source: Wikipedia: History of El Salvador
principalities. The indigenous inhabitants were the Pipils, a tribe of the nomadic people of Nahua settled down for a long time in
central Mexico. The region of the east was populated and governed by the Lencas. The North zone of the Lempa river was
populated and governed by Mayan the Chortis. Early in their history, the Pipil became one of the few Mesoamerican indigenous
groups to abolish human sacrifice. Otherwise, their culture was similar to that of their Aztec and Maya neighbours. Remains of
Nahua culture are still found at ruins such as Tazumal (near Chalchuapa), San Andrés (northeast of Armenia), and Joya de Cerén
(north of Colón). The first Spanish attempt to subjugate this area failed in 1524, when Pedro de Alvarado was forced to retreat by
Pipil warriors. In 1525, he returned and succeeded in bringing the district under control of the Captaincy General of Guatemala,
which retained its authority until 1821, despite an abortive revolution in 1811. It was Alvarado who named the district for El
Salvador ("The Savior.") The first "shout of independence" in El Salvador came in 1811, at the hands of criollo elite. Many
intellectuals and merchants had grown tired of the overpowering control that Spain still had in the American colonies, and were
interested in expanding their export markets to Britain and the United States. The Indigenous uprisings aimed at Spanish subjugation
plagued the territory at this time, and they were re-interpreted by the Republicans to serve their purpose and show popular support
for independence. Thus a movement grew amongst the middle class criollo and mestizo classes. Ultimately, the 1811 declaration of
independence failed when the vice royalty of Guatemala sent troops to San Salvador in order to crush the movement. The
momentum was not lost however, and many of the people involved in the 1811 movement became involved in the 1821 movement.
In 1832, Anastasio Aquino led an indigenous revolt against creoles and mestizos in Santiago Nonualco, a small town in the province
of San Vicente. The source of the discontent of the indigenous people was lack of land to cultivate. The problem of land distribution
has been the source of many political conflicts in Salvadoran history. The Central American federation was dissolved in 1838 and El
Salvador became an independent republic. El Salvador in its early history was impenetrably localized, aided by its geography, its
unbridged rivers that could only be crossed at fords and its lack of any linking highway that could take wheeled vehicles. The first
highway for wheeled traffic was begun in 1855. Thus the "Fourteen Families" (actually many dozens of families) that have controlled
El Salvador's history were all but independent territorial magnates. El Salvador's early history as an independent state—as with
others in Central America—was marked by frequent revolutions; not until the period 1900-30 was relative stability achieved. From
the 1930s to the 1970s, authoritarian governments employed political repression and limited reform to maintain power, despite the
trappings of democracy. The National Conciliation Party was in power from the early 1960s until 1979. Fidel Sánchez Hernández
was president from 1967 to 1972. In July 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras in the short Football War. During the 1970s, the
political situation began to unravel. By 1979, leftist guerrilla warfare had broken out in the cities and the countryside, launching what
became a 12-year civil war. A cycle of violence took hold as rightist vigilante death squads in turn killed thousands. One of the most
infamous death squad assassinations occurred when the Archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Romero, was murdered in 1980 after
having publicly urged the U.S. government not to provide military support to the El Salvadoran government. In 1989, ARENA's
Alfredo Cristiani won the presidential election with 54% of the vote. His inauguration on June 1, 1989, marked the first time that
power had passed peacefully from one freely elected civilian leader to another. In 1986, the Human Rights Commission of El
Salvador (CDHES) published a 165-page report on the Mariona men's prison. The report documented the routine use of at least
40 kinds of torture on political prisoners, and that U.S. servicemen often acted as supervisors. In early 1990, following a request
from the Central American presidents, the United Nations became involved in an effort to mediate direct talks between the two
sides. After a year of little progress, the government and the FMLN accepted an invitation from the UN Secretary General to meet
in New York City. On September 25, 1991, the two sides signed the New York City Accord. During the 12-year civil war, human
rights violations by both the government security forces and left-wing guerrillas were rampant. The accords established a Truth
Commission under United Nations auspices to investigate the most serious cases. The commission reported its findings in 1993. It
recommended that those identified as human rights violators be removed from all government and military posts, as well as
recommending judicial reforms. Thereafter, the Legislative Assembly granted amnesty for political crimes committed during the war.
Among those freed as a result were the El Salvador Armed Forces (ESAF) officers convicted in the November 1989 Jesuit
murders and the FMLN ex-combatants held for the 1991 murders of two U.S. servicemen. The peace accords also established the
Ad Hoc Commission to evaluate the human rights record of the ESAF officer corps. In accordance with the peace agreements, the
constitution was amended to prohibit the military from playing an internal security role except under extraordinary circumstances. El
Salvador is struggling to cope with growing gang violence, perpetrated by groups such as Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street
Gang. The violence is exacerbated by ongoing social unrest, economic devastation from the civil war, the breakdown of families and
social structures, and the presence of refugees turned gang members from the United States who came home or were deported to
El Salvador after 1996. Agriculture was one of the sectors of the economy that was most affected by the civil war. Therefore, one
of the biggest social problems in post-war El Salvador has been rural unemployment. This has been the explanation for increased
migration to the cities and to other countries, especially the United States. Unofficial estimates say that the United States is the home
of around 2 million Salvadorans. The ARENA governments that have been in presidency since 1989 have implemented a program
of policies of liberalization of the labor, goods and financial markets. In a context of unprotected markets, El Salvador's economic
development has therefore relied on the income provided by exports. Since the international coffee prices fluctuate so much,
ARENA governments have regarded them unreliable. Because of this, they have tried to implement economic policies that stimulate
the growth of non-traditional exports. The most important of these policies are measures that favor foreign investment in "maquilas",
which are tax-free industrial complexes for companies from abroad that outsource their production activities, in order to take
advantage of cheap labor force. However, the foreign currency coming into the Salvadoran economy has not been able to keep up
with the value of the goods imported by Salvadorans, which has implied a growing deficit in the trade balance. The only thing that
has kept the Salvadoran economy in balance is the growing transfers received by Salvadorans from their family members living
abroad, especially in the United States. American dollars became legal tender in El Salvador and the accounting unit of the financial
sector in January 2001.
Source: Wikipedia: History of El Salvador
| ECONOMIC OVERVIEW |
Despite being the smallest country geographically in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy with a per capita
income that is roughly two-thirds that of Costa Rica and Panama, but more than double that of Nicaragua. Growth has been modest
in recent years and the economy contracted nearly 3% in 2009. El Salvador leads the region in remittances per capita with inflows
equivalent to nearly all export income and about a third of all households receive these financial inflows. In 2006 El Salvador was
the first country to ratify the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA has bolstered exports of
processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector, which faced Asian competition with the
expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. In anticipation of the declines in the apparel sector's competitiveness, the previous
administration sought to diversify the economy by promoting the country as a regional distribution and logistics hub, and by
promoting tourism investment through tax incentives. El Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment, and has
embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. In late 2006, the
government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year, $461 million compact to stimulate economic growth and
reduce poverty in the country's northern region, the primary conflict zone during the civil war, through investments in education,
public services, enterprise development, and transportation infrastructure. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency in
2001, El Salvador lost control over monetary policy. Any counter-cyclical policy response to the downturn must be through fiscal
policy, which is constrained by legislative requirements for a two-thirds majority to approve any international financing.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select El Salvador)
income that is roughly two-thirds that of Costa Rica and Panama, but more than double that of Nicaragua. Growth has been modest
in recent years and the economy contracted nearly 3% in 2009. El Salvador leads the region in remittances per capita with inflows
equivalent to nearly all export income and about a third of all households receive these financial inflows. In 2006 El Salvador was
the first country to ratify the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA has bolstered exports of
processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector, which faced Asian competition with the
expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. In anticipation of the declines in the apparel sector's competitiveness, the previous
administration sought to diversify the economy by promoting the country as a regional distribution and logistics hub, and by
promoting tourism investment through tax incentives. El Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment, and has
embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. In late 2006, the
government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year, $461 million compact to stimulate economic growth and
reduce poverty in the country's northern region, the primary conflict zone during the civil war, through investments in education,
public services, enterprise development, and transportation infrastructure. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency in
2001, El Salvador lost control over monetary policy. Any counter-cyclical policy response to the downturn must be through fiscal
policy, which is constrained by legislative requirements for a two-thirds majority to approve any international financing.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select El Salvador)
| POLITICAL CLIMATE |
The Nationalist Republican Alliance party, known popularly as ARENA (Spanish: Alianza Republicana Nacionalista), is El
Salvador's leading political party. It was created in 1982 by Major Roberto D'Aubuisson and others from the right wing, including
members of the military. His electoral fortunes were diminished by credible reports that he was involved in organized political
violence, including ordering the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero in 1980 and organizing governmental death squads.
Following the 1984 presidential election, ARENA began reaching out to more moderate individuals and groups, particularly in the
private sector. By 1989, ARENA had attracted the support of business groups, and Alfredo Cristiani won the presidency. Despite
efforts at reform, José Napoleón Duarte's PDC administration had failed to either end the insurgency or improve the economy.
Allegations of corruption, poor relations with the private sector, and historically low prices for the nation's main agricultural exports
also contributed to ARENA victories in the 1988 legislative and 1989 presidential elections.
Both the Truth Commission and the Joint Group identified weaknesses in the judiciary and recommended solutions, the most
dramatic being the replacement of all the magistrates on the Supreme Court. This recommendation was fulfilled in 1994 when an
entirely new court was elected. The process of replacing incompetent judges in the lower courts, and of strengthening the attorney
general's and public defender's offices, has moved more slowly. The government continues to work in all of these areas with the
help of international donors, including the United States. Action on peace-accord driven constitutional reforms designed to improve
the administration of justice was largely completed in 1996 with legislative approval of several amendments and the revision of the
Criminal Procedure Code--with broad political consensus.
El Salvador elects its head of state – the President of El Salvador – directly through a fixed-date general election whose winner is
decided by absolute majority. If an absolute majority (50% + 1) is not achieved by any candidate in the first round of a presidential
election, then a run-off election is conducted 30 days later between the two candidates who obtained the most votes in the first
round. The presidential period is five years, and re-election is not permitted. The most recent presidential election, held on 15
March 2009, resulted in the election of Mauricio Funes of FMLN, the first leftist president ever elected in El Salvador.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of El Salvador
Salvador's leading political party. It was created in 1982 by Major Roberto D'Aubuisson and others from the right wing, including
members of the military. His electoral fortunes were diminished by credible reports that he was involved in organized political
violence, including ordering the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero in 1980 and organizing governmental death squads.
Following the 1984 presidential election, ARENA began reaching out to more moderate individuals and groups, particularly in the
private sector. By 1989, ARENA had attracted the support of business groups, and Alfredo Cristiani won the presidency. Despite
efforts at reform, José Napoleón Duarte's PDC administration had failed to either end the insurgency or improve the economy.
Allegations of corruption, poor relations with the private sector, and historically low prices for the nation's main agricultural exports
also contributed to ARENA victories in the 1988 legislative and 1989 presidential elections.
Both the Truth Commission and the Joint Group identified weaknesses in the judiciary and recommended solutions, the most
dramatic being the replacement of all the magistrates on the Supreme Court. This recommendation was fulfilled in 1994 when an
entirely new court was elected. The process of replacing incompetent judges in the lower courts, and of strengthening the attorney
general's and public defender's offices, has moved more slowly. The government continues to work in all of these areas with the
help of international donors, including the United States. Action on peace-accord driven constitutional reforms designed to improve
the administration of justice was largely completed in 1996 with legislative approval of several amendments and the revision of the
Criminal Procedure Code--with broad political consensus.
El Salvador elects its head of state – the President of El Salvador – directly through a fixed-date general election whose winner is
decided by absolute majority. If an absolute majority (50% + 1) is not achieved by any candidate in the first round of a presidential
election, then a run-off election is conducted 30 days later between the two candidates who obtained the most votes in the first
round. The presidential period is five years, and re-election is not permitted. The most recent presidential election, held on 15
March 2009, resulted in the election of Mauricio Funes of FMLN, the first leftist president ever elected in El Salvador.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of El Salvador
| INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES |
International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras
boundary, in 1992, with final agreement by the parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS) survey and a further
ICJ ruling in 2003; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca advocating
Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ decision, off Honduras in
the Gulf of Fonseca.
boundary, in 1992, with final agreement by the parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS) survey and a further
ICJ ruling in 2003; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca advocating
Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ decision, off Honduras in
the Gulf of Fonseca.
| REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) |
None reported.
| ILLICIT DRUGS |
Transshipment point for cocaine; small amounts of marijuana produced for local consumption; significant use of cocaine
| HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENTS, ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUES |
2009 Human Rights Report: El Salvador
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
El Salvador is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 5.8 million. In March voters elected Carlos
Mauricio Funes Cartagena of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) as president for a five-year term in generally free
and fair elections. Funes was inaugurated on June 1. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control over the security forces.
Although the government generally respected the rights of its citizens, protection of human rights was undermined by widespread violent
crime, including the following:
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
El Salvador is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with a population of approximately 5.8 million. In March voters elected Carlos
Mauricio Funes Cartagena of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) as president for a five-year term in generally free
and fair elections. Funes was inaugurated on June 1. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control over the security forces.
Although the government generally respected the rights of its citizens, protection of human rights was undermined by widespread violent
crime, including the following:
- gang-related violence, high levels of impunity from prosecution, and judicial corruption.
- Other significant human rights problems included harsh, violent, and overcrowded prison conditions;
- lengthy pretrial detention;
- violence and discrimination against women;
- abuses against children, child labor, and forced child prostitution;
- trafficking in persons;
- violence and discrimination against sexual minorities;
- inadequate enforcement of labor laws.
12 February 2010
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Fifty-third session
11-29 January 2010
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 12(1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Concluding observations: El Salvador
Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography and its replies to the Committee’s list of issues (CRC/C/OPSC/SLV/Q/1 and Add.1). The
Committee further welcomes the frank and constructive dialogue held with the multi-sectoral delegation.
I. General observations
4. The Committee welcomes the numerous measures taken by the State party in areas of relevance for the Optional Protocol, including:
(a) The 2004 legislative reforms aimed at criminalizing the activities linked to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, including the
increase in penalties thereto;
II. Data
Data collection
6. The Committee, while appreciating the data contained in the replies of the State party to the list of issues, regrets that data on the
extent of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the number of children involved in these activities are limited
and not systematized, mainly due to the absence of a comprehensive data collection system. The Committee further regrets the lack of
data on the extent of sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (sex tourism) in the State party.
7. The Committee recommends that a comprehensive data collection system be established in order to ensure that data, disaggregated,
inter alia, by age, sex, minority group, socio-economic background and geographical area, are systematically collected and analysed as
they provide essential tools for measuring policy implementation. Data should also include information on the number of prosecutions
and convictions for such offences, disaggregated by the nature of the offence. Data on sex tourism, and its link with the issues
addressed in the Optional Protocol, should also be collected. The collection of data on these issues could be carried out by the same
bodies mandated to analyse and collect data on the implementation of the Convention according to the new institutional structure created
for the country through the Ley de Protección Integral de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (LEPINA). In this respect, the capacity in terms of
human, technical and financial resources should be strengthened. The Committee would also like to receive in its next report information
on the activities of and the results obtained by the round table (“Mesa”) focused on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of
children. The State party should also seek the assistance of United Nations agencies and programmes, including the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in this regard.
Click here to read more »
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Fifty-third session
11-29 January 2010
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 12(1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Concluding observations: El Salvador
Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of the State party under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography and its replies to the Committee’s list of issues (CRC/C/OPSC/SLV/Q/1 and Add.1). The
Committee further welcomes the frank and constructive dialogue held with the multi-sectoral delegation.
I. General observations
4. The Committee welcomes the numerous measures taken by the State party in areas of relevance for the Optional Protocol, including:
(a) The 2004 legislative reforms aimed at criminalizing the activities linked to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, including the
increase in penalties thereto;
II. Data
Data collection
6. The Committee, while appreciating the data contained in the replies of the State party to the list of issues, regrets that data on the
extent of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the number of children involved in these activities are limited
and not systematized, mainly due to the absence of a comprehensive data collection system. The Committee further regrets the lack of
data on the extent of sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (sex tourism) in the State party.
7. The Committee recommends that a comprehensive data collection system be established in order to ensure that data, disaggregated,
inter alia, by age, sex, minority group, socio-economic background and geographical area, are systematically collected and analysed as
they provide essential tools for measuring policy implementation. Data should also include information on the number of prosecutions
and convictions for such offences, disaggregated by the nature of the offence. Data on sex tourism, and its link with the issues
addressed in the Optional Protocol, should also be collected. The collection of data on these issues could be carried out by the same
bodies mandated to analyse and collect data on the implementation of the Convention according to the new institutional structure created
for the country through the Ley de Protección Integral de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (LEPINA). In this respect, the capacity in terms of
human, technical and financial resources should be strengthened. The Committee would also like to receive in its next report information
on the activities of and the results obtained by the round table (“Mesa”) focused on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of
children. The State party should also seek the assistance of United Nations agencies and programmes, including the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in this regard.
Click here to read more »
Freedom In The World 2010 Report
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Free
Overview
Mauricio Funes led the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) to a historic victory in El Salvador’s January
legislative and March presidential elections, ending two decades of right-wing National Republican Alliance (ARENA) rule. The new
administration faced serious challenges during the year, including an economic downturn and an unexpected increase in violent crime.
In 2007, ARENA and the smaller National Conciliation Party (PCN) began to build an alliance aimed at preventing the FMLN from taking
power in the 2009 elections. Responding in part to the rise of the left in neighboring Nicaragua and other Latin American countries, they
mounted what many analysts deemed a fear-based campaign that sought to link the FMLN and its presidential candidate, former
journalist and self-described moderate Mauricio Funes, to leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The conservatives also suggested
that an FMLN victory would jeopardize relations with the United States and the legal status of Salvadoran migrants who currently
benefitted from temporary protective status there. Political violence increased ahead of the elections, and the FMLN and ARENA
accused each other of instigating the unrest. In October 2008, all major parties signed an agreement that obliged them to prevent violence
among their supporters, avoid confrontational language while campaigning, and recognize the legitimacy of the election results.
A number of preelection decisions appeared to favor ARENA. For instance, the legislative and presidential polls were scheduled for
different months, requiring parties to pay for consecutive rather than concurrent campaigns, and ARENA was known to have the largest
budget. Moreover, Salvadorans living abroad were required to return and cast their ballots in person, limiting the vote to those who could
afford the trip. In addition to these challenges, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) failed to address well-documented irregularities in
the voter registry, such as its inclusion of about 85,000 deceased voters. The TSE issued the final registry ahead of schedule in
September 2008, days before data from the 2007 census was published. As a result, voter information and the distribution of legislative
seats for 2009 was based on old census data that did not account for the past decade’s growth in urban areas, which are home to 60
percent of the population.
Municipal and legislative elections were held in January 2009, with observers reporting irregularities such as voter cards being issued to
residents of other districts. In San Isidro, Cabanas, opposition mayoral candidates filed a complaint stating that the ARENA candidate
was distributing voter cards to Honduran citizens. The Municipal Electoral Committee responded by shutting down the city’s vote at
midday and holding a make-up election the following week. Community activist Gustavo Marcelo Rivera, who had been vocal in
denouncing electoral fraud in San Isidro, was abducted and murdered in June. While police dismissed the crime as the work of gang
members, Rivera’s family maintained that it was politically motivated.
Although an ARENA candidate won the crucial mayoralty of San Salvador, the FMLN emerged as the winner nationally, taking 35 seats
in the Legislative Assembly. ARENA placed second with 32 seats, followed by the PCN (11 seats), the Christian Democratic Party (5
seats), and Democratic Convergence (1 seat).
Observers reported that many of the irregularities noted during the January elections were rectified in the March presidential vote,
although they continued to call on the TSE to update the voter registry. In an historic victory, Funes defeated ARENA’s Rodrigo Avila,
51.3 percent to 48.7 percent. Funes assumed the presidency in June, inheriting a $500 million budget deficit that has been attributed to a
drop in exports as well as financial mismanagement by the outgoing administration.
The new administration faced major economic challenges in 2009. Remittances represent about 17 percent of gross domestic product,
and, due in large part to the recession in the United States, they fell by 10.3 percent in the first half of the year. It is estimated that
between 30 and 40 percent of all Salvadorans live in poverty, and 70 percent of the potential workforce is either underemployed or
unemployed.
Click here to read more »
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Free
Overview
Mauricio Funes led the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) to a historic victory in El Salvador’s January
legislative and March presidential elections, ending two decades of right-wing National Republican Alliance (ARENA) rule. The new
administration faced serious challenges during the year, including an economic downturn and an unexpected increase in violent crime.
In 2007, ARENA and the smaller National Conciliation Party (PCN) began to build an alliance aimed at preventing the FMLN from taking
power in the 2009 elections. Responding in part to the rise of the left in neighboring Nicaragua and other Latin American countries, they
mounted what many analysts deemed a fear-based campaign that sought to link the FMLN and its presidential candidate, former
journalist and self-described moderate Mauricio Funes, to leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The conservatives also suggested
that an FMLN victory would jeopardize relations with the United States and the legal status of Salvadoran migrants who currently
benefitted from temporary protective status there. Political violence increased ahead of the elections, and the FMLN and ARENA
accused each other of instigating the unrest. In October 2008, all major parties signed an agreement that obliged them to prevent violence
among their supporters, avoid confrontational language while campaigning, and recognize the legitimacy of the election results.
A number of preelection decisions appeared to favor ARENA. For instance, the legislative and presidential polls were scheduled for
different months, requiring parties to pay for consecutive rather than concurrent campaigns, and ARENA was known to have the largest
budget. Moreover, Salvadorans living abroad were required to return and cast their ballots in person, limiting the vote to those who could
afford the trip. In addition to these challenges, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) failed to address well-documented irregularities in
the voter registry, such as its inclusion of about 85,000 deceased voters. The TSE issued the final registry ahead of schedule in
September 2008, days before data from the 2007 census was published. As a result, voter information and the distribution of legislative
seats for 2009 was based on old census data that did not account for the past decade’s growth in urban areas, which are home to 60
percent of the population.
Municipal and legislative elections were held in January 2009, with observers reporting irregularities such as voter cards being issued to
residents of other districts. In San Isidro, Cabanas, opposition mayoral candidates filed a complaint stating that the ARENA candidate
was distributing voter cards to Honduran citizens. The Municipal Electoral Committee responded by shutting down the city’s vote at
midday and holding a make-up election the following week. Community activist Gustavo Marcelo Rivera, who had been vocal in
denouncing electoral fraud in San Isidro, was abducted and murdered in June. While police dismissed the crime as the work of gang
members, Rivera’s family maintained that it was politically motivated.
Although an ARENA candidate won the crucial mayoralty of San Salvador, the FMLN emerged as the winner nationally, taking 35 seats
in the Legislative Assembly. ARENA placed second with 32 seats, followed by the PCN (11 seats), the Christian Democratic Party (5
seats), and Democratic Convergence (1 seat).
Observers reported that many of the irregularities noted during the January elections were rectified in the March presidential vote,
although they continued to call on the TSE to update the voter registry. In an historic victory, Funes defeated ARENA’s Rodrigo Avila,
51.3 percent to 48.7 percent. Funes assumed the presidency in June, inheriting a $500 million budget deficit that has been attributed to a
drop in exports as well as financial mismanagement by the outgoing administration.
The new administration faced major economic challenges in 2009. Remittances represent about 17 percent of gross domestic product,
and, due in large part to the recession in the United States, they fell by 10.3 percent in the first half of the year. It is estimated that
between 30 and 40 percent of all Salvadorans live in poverty, and 70 percent of the potential workforce is either underemployed or
unemployed.
Click here to read more »
El Salvador urged to repeal amnesty law
23 March 2010
Amnesty International on Tuesday urged authorities in El Salvador to repeal an amnesty law that protects those responsible for thousands
of killings and disappearances during the country's 12-year armed conflict, including the killing of Catholic priest Monsignor Romero on
24 March 1980.
The organization also called on the country's security forces to fully cooperate with any investigation by allowing full access to their files.
"It is unacceptable that those responsible for thousands of disappearances, killings and torture have not been held to account for their
crimes," said Kerrie Howard, deputy director of Amnesty International's America's programme. "The Amnesty law must be urgently
repealed and full investigations, initiated."
Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero was shot and killed as he gave mass in the chapel of a hospital. During his funeral on 30 March over
20 of his supporters were killed by the military.
A report by El Salvador's Truth Commission in 1992 concluded there was evidence that former Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, now
deceased, had ordered members of his security service, acting as a "death squad", to assassinate the Monsignor.
In 1993, a blanket amnesty was passed into law, shielding perpetrators from prosecution. Nobody has been brought to justice for any of
the human rights crimes committed during the conflict.
El Salvador recognized before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2009 its international responsibility for the death of
Monsignor Romero. However, no measures have been taken to investigate the incident.
Thousands of Salvadorans were murdered, disappeared, raped or forcibly recruited as child soldiers during the country's armed conflict.
Between 1980 and 1992 in El Salvador a bitter armed conflict led to gross and widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial
executions, other unlawful killings, "disappearances" and torture.
Among the victims were human rights defenders, trade unionists, lawyers, journalists, opponents of the government (whether real or
presumed) and, for the most part, innocent civilians who had no direct involvement in the conflict. Whole villages were targeted by the
armed forces and their inhabitants massacred.
Click here to read more »
23 March 2010
Amnesty International on Tuesday urged authorities in El Salvador to repeal an amnesty law that protects those responsible for thousands
of killings and disappearances during the country's 12-year armed conflict, including the killing of Catholic priest Monsignor Romero on
24 March 1980.
The organization also called on the country's security forces to fully cooperate with any investigation by allowing full access to their files.
"It is unacceptable that those responsible for thousands of disappearances, killings and torture have not been held to account for their
crimes," said Kerrie Howard, deputy director of Amnesty International's America's programme. "The Amnesty law must be urgently
repealed and full investigations, initiated."
Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero was shot and killed as he gave mass in the chapel of a hospital. During his funeral on 30 March over
20 of his supporters were killed by the military.
A report by El Salvador's Truth Commission in 1992 concluded there was evidence that former Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, now
deceased, had ordered members of his security service, acting as a "death squad", to assassinate the Monsignor.
In 1993, a blanket amnesty was passed into law, shielding perpetrators from prosecution. Nobody has been brought to justice for any of
the human rights crimes committed during the conflict.
El Salvador recognized before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2009 its international responsibility for the death of
Monsignor Romero. However, no measures have been taken to investigate the incident.
Thousands of Salvadorans were murdered, disappeared, raped or forcibly recruited as child soldiers during the country's armed conflict.
Between 1980 and 1992 in El Salvador a bitter armed conflict led to gross and widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial
executions, other unlawful killings, "disappearances" and torture.
Among the victims were human rights defenders, trade unionists, lawyers, journalists, opponents of the government (whether real or
presumed) and, for the most part, innocent civilians who had no direct involvement in the conflict. Whole villages were targeted by the
armed forces and their inhabitants massacred.
Click here to read more »
El Salvador: Investigate Killing of Community Leader
Murder of Activist, Then Threats to Others
August 8, 2009
(Washington, DC) - El Salvador's attorney general should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation of the murder of the
community leader and environmental advocate Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno, as well as subsequent threats against journalists and
human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today.
According to news reports, Rivera, director of the Association of Friends of San Isidro Cabañas (Asociación Amigos de San Isidro
Cabañas, ASIC), disappeared in Ilobasco, Cabañas on June 18, 2009, and his corpse was found in a nearby well weeks later with signs
of torture. The authorities have arrested four alleged gang members in the killing and attributed it to common crime, news reports said.
"This is a very suspicious killing that cries out for an exhaustive investigation," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human
Rights Watch. "To dismiss this brutal murder as a gang killing and not look into the circumstances and the menacing aftermath would
have a chilling effect on El Salvador's civil society."
Rivera had been an outspoken leader of a community campaign opposing the Canadian Pacific Rim Mining Company's industrial mining
projects in the area. News reports also said that he had received death threats after he and other leaders successfully denounced electoral
fraud that had been planned in San Isidro during the January 2009 municipal elections. He was a member of the departmental board of
the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) party.
Human Rights Watch has also received other reports of threats and harassment against local activists and journalists after Rivera's
murder. According to news reports and statements by local nongovernmental organizations, on July 23, three journalists from the Radio
Victoria community radio station in Cabañas began receiving death threats alluding to Rivera's murder and saying that, "they will be
next." The station had been covering local human rights and environmental issues, and had also covered Rivera's killing.
On July 27, Father Luis Quintanilla, a local priest and activist, reportedly escaped an attack while driving in Cabañas. According to news
reports, after the attempted attack, Quintanilla began receiving telephone threats. Antonio Pacheco, director of the Social & Economic
Development Association of Santa Marta (Asociación de Desarrollo Económico y Social Santa Marta, ADES), a local group, has also
received death threats, his organization said.
Click here to read more »
Murder of Activist, Then Threats to Others
August 8, 2009
(Washington, DC) - El Salvador's attorney general should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation of the murder of the
community leader and environmental advocate Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno, as well as subsequent threats against journalists and
human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today.
According to news reports, Rivera, director of the Association of Friends of San Isidro Cabañas (Asociación Amigos de San Isidro
Cabañas, ASIC), disappeared in Ilobasco, Cabañas on June 18, 2009, and his corpse was found in a nearby well weeks later with signs
of torture. The authorities have arrested four alleged gang members in the killing and attributed it to common crime, news reports said.
"This is a very suspicious killing that cries out for an exhaustive investigation," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human
Rights Watch. "To dismiss this brutal murder as a gang killing and not look into the circumstances and the menacing aftermath would
have a chilling effect on El Salvador's civil society."
Rivera had been an outspoken leader of a community campaign opposing the Canadian Pacific Rim Mining Company's industrial mining
projects in the area. News reports also said that he had received death threats after he and other leaders successfully denounced electoral
fraud that had been planned in San Isidro during the January 2009 municipal elections. He was a member of the departmental board of
the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) party.
Human Rights Watch has also received other reports of threats and harassment against local activists and journalists after Rivera's
murder. According to news reports and statements by local nongovernmental organizations, on July 23, three journalists from the Radio
Victoria community radio station in Cabañas began receiving death threats alluding to Rivera's murder and saying that, "they will be
next." The station had been covering local human rights and environmental issues, and had also covered Rivera's killing.
On July 27, Father Luis Quintanilla, a local priest and activist, reportedly escaped an attack while driving in Cabañas. According to news
reports, after the attempted attack, Quintanilla began receiving telephone threats. Antonio Pacheco, director of the Social & Economic
Development Association of Santa Marta (Asociación de Desarrollo Económico y Social Santa Marta, ADES), a local group, has also
received death threats, his organization said.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Statement by President Mauricio Funes Cartegena
18 Anniversary of the Signing of Peace Agreement
January 16, 2010
My message today is part of a debt contracted the Salvadoran State 18 YEARS AGO WITH ALL ITS CITIZENS AND IS MY
RESPONSIBILITY AS A MAXIMUM IN THIS MOMENT TO RECOGNIZE STATE REPRESENTATIVE ESA DEBT AND START A
BALANCE.
READING UNDER AN AWARE, fairness and RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THOSE AGREEMENTS, HE
made a resolution you want to convey TRUE AND THAT MAKES HISTORIC TRASCENDIENCIA.
AS OWNER OF THE EXECUTIVE BODY OF THE NATION AND IN THE NAME OF THE STATE Salvadoran ON THE CONTEXT
OF INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT ending in 1992, AGENTS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEN BELONGING TO STATE
AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE ARMED FORCES AND BODIES OF PUBLIC SAFETY and other parastatal organizations,
COMMITTED SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABUSE OF POWER, made an illegitimate use of VIOLENCE,
BROKEN THE CONSTITUTION AND ORDER OF THE BASIC RULES VIOLENT PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE. Among the crimes
tasks include Massacres, arbitrary executions, disappearances, torture, sexual abuse, arbitrary detention and acts of repression
DIFFERENT. ALL THESE ABUSES WERE EXECUTED IN mostly unarmed civilians from the conflict.
PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE TO SUCH FACTS, both by action and by omission, as it was
and is a State obligation to protect its citizens and guarantee their human rights.
For all the above, on behalf of Salvadoran State, I apologize.
ASK FORGIVENESS FOR CHILDREN, ASK FORGIVENESS ON BEHALF OF Salvadoran State CHILDREN, YOUTH, WOMEN AND
MEN, AGED AND ELDERLY, RELIGIOUS, peasants, workers, students, intellectuals, political opponents and HUMAN RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS.
I apologize to those who have not TERMINATE YOUR GRIEF BY unaccounted for loved ones.
I apologize to the martyrs who lives defending YOUR PEACE AND NEVER HAVE SEEN THEIR SACRIFICE RECOGNIZED.
ASK FORGIVENESS FOR THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO, THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
ASK FORGIVENESS TO ALL AND EVERY ONE OF THE AFFECTED AND THEIR FAMILIES, TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE
TAKEN OVER THE YEARS IN YOUR HEART DRAMA without the protection of its institutions.
SOME OF THESE VICTIMS AND INTERNATIONAL COURTS HAVE RECOGNIZED LES FORGIVENESS TO YOUR RIGHT, TO,
OF COURSE, THIS ALSO DIRECT REQUEST. ALL I extend my highest respect.
TO SERVE FOR FORGIVENESS THIS dignity to the victims, to help them alleviate their pain and help to heal their wounds AND ALL
OVER THE COUNTRY. THIS GESTURE THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ENHANCE PEACE, NATIONAL UNION to cement and build a
future of hope.
Click here to read more »
Statement by President Mauricio Funes Cartegena
18 Anniversary of the Signing of Peace Agreement
January 16, 2010
My message today is part of a debt contracted the Salvadoran State 18 YEARS AGO WITH ALL ITS CITIZENS AND IS MY
RESPONSIBILITY AS A MAXIMUM IN THIS MOMENT TO RECOGNIZE STATE REPRESENTATIVE ESA DEBT AND START A
BALANCE.
READING UNDER AN AWARE, fairness and RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THOSE AGREEMENTS, HE
made a resolution you want to convey TRUE AND THAT MAKES HISTORIC TRASCENDIENCIA.
AS OWNER OF THE EXECUTIVE BODY OF THE NATION AND IN THE NAME OF THE STATE Salvadoran ON THE CONTEXT
OF INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT ending in 1992, AGENTS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEN BELONGING TO STATE
AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE ARMED FORCES AND BODIES OF PUBLIC SAFETY and other parastatal organizations,
COMMITTED SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABUSE OF POWER, made an illegitimate use of VIOLENCE,
BROKEN THE CONSTITUTION AND ORDER OF THE BASIC RULES VIOLENT PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE. Among the crimes
tasks include Massacres, arbitrary executions, disappearances, torture, sexual abuse, arbitrary detention and acts of repression
DIFFERENT. ALL THESE ABUSES WERE EXECUTED IN mostly unarmed civilians from the conflict.
PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE TO SUCH FACTS, both by action and by omission, as it was
and is a State obligation to protect its citizens and guarantee their human rights.
For all the above, on behalf of Salvadoran State, I apologize.
ASK FORGIVENESS FOR CHILDREN, ASK FORGIVENESS ON BEHALF OF Salvadoran State CHILDREN, YOUTH, WOMEN AND
MEN, AGED AND ELDERLY, RELIGIOUS, peasants, workers, students, intellectuals, political opponents and HUMAN RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS.
I apologize to those who have not TERMINATE YOUR GRIEF BY unaccounted for loved ones.
I apologize to the martyrs who lives defending YOUR PEACE AND NEVER HAVE SEEN THEIR SACRIFICE RECOGNIZED.
ASK FORGIVENESS FOR THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS, SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO, THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
ASK FORGIVENESS TO ALL AND EVERY ONE OF THE AFFECTED AND THEIR FAMILIES, TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE
TAKEN OVER THE YEARS IN YOUR HEART DRAMA without the protection of its institutions.
SOME OF THESE VICTIMS AND INTERNATIONAL COURTS HAVE RECOGNIZED LES FORGIVENESS TO YOUR RIGHT, TO,
OF COURSE, THIS ALSO DIRECT REQUEST. ALL I extend my highest respect.
TO SERVE FOR FORGIVENESS THIS dignity to the victims, to help them alleviate their pain and help to heal their wounds AND ALL
OVER THE COUNTRY. THIS GESTURE THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ENHANCE PEACE, NATIONAL UNION to cement and build a
future of hope.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Ombudsman of El Salvador calls HH.RR. policy to avoid "forced migration"
30 August 2010
The attorney for the Defense of Human Rights in El Salvador, Oscar Luna, today repudiated the massacre of 72 immigrants in
Tamaulipas (Mexico) and recommended to the government of President Mauricio Funes to design a policy migration to avoid "forced
migration" of nationals.
Luna said in a statement that is required "design of a national migration policy to prevent forced migration of people."
"This implies the promotion of legislative initiatives and administrative budget to attack the causes for the game, care for migrants once
leaving the national territory and protect them if they are victims of attacks or abuse, guarantee them a decent return deportation case
and offer them reintegration programs national life, "added Moon.
In turn, suggested the Government to launch an information campaign to publicize the consequences of irregular migration and show the
dangers of travel, and protection mechanisms which can turn migrants who are victims of abuse.
Attorney Funes called on to lead a joint action with the presidents of countries "whose citizens have been victims of this fact" to the
Mexican authorities, in order to "repair the damage suffered by the family of people killed. "
Also recommended that the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry made efforts to organize a strategy in the region, together with the Government
of Mexico to ensure the rights of migrants and implement better systems for finding missing persons.
This Sunday, the Government of El Salvador confirmed that identified another country among the victims of the slaughter perpetrated in
Mexico for alleged members of the armed group Los Zetas, bringing the number of Salvadorans killed amounts to thirteen.
Mexican authorities have identified 40 of the 72 people killed: 15 Hondurans, 13 Salvadorans, six Ecuadorians, Guatemalans and five
Brazilian.
Click here to read more »
Ombudsman of El Salvador calls HH.RR. policy to avoid "forced migration"
30 August 2010
The attorney for the Defense of Human Rights in El Salvador, Oscar Luna, today repudiated the massacre of 72 immigrants in
Tamaulipas (Mexico) and recommended to the government of President Mauricio Funes to design a policy migration to avoid "forced
migration" of nationals.
Luna said in a statement that is required "design of a national migration policy to prevent forced migration of people."
"This implies the promotion of legislative initiatives and administrative budget to attack the causes for the game, care for migrants once
leaving the national territory and protect them if they are victims of attacks or abuse, guarantee them a decent return deportation case
and offer them reintegration programs national life, "added Moon.
In turn, suggested the Government to launch an information campaign to publicize the consequences of irregular migration and show the
dangers of travel, and protection mechanisms which can turn migrants who are victims of abuse.
Attorney Funes called on to lead a joint action with the presidents of countries "whose citizens have been victims of this fact" to the
Mexican authorities, in order to "repair the damage suffered by the family of people killed. "
Also recommended that the Salvadoran Foreign Ministry made efforts to organize a strategy in the region, together with the Government
of Mexico to ensure the rights of migrants and implement better systems for finding missing persons.
This Sunday, the Government of El Salvador confirmed that identified another country among the victims of the slaughter perpetrated in
Mexico for alleged members of the armed group Los Zetas, bringing the number of Salvadorans killed amounts to thirteen.
Mexican authorities have identified 40 of the 72 people killed: 15 Hondurans, 13 Salvadorans, six Ecuadorians, Guatemalans and five
Brazilian.
Click here to read more »
ACTION ALERT: Pacific Rim shareholders meet today!
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Today, the shareholders and Board of Directors of Pacific Rim Mining will meet for their Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, B.C.
When the government and people of El Salvador stopped Pacific Rim’s gold mines from opening, this Canadian corporation opened a
storefront in Nevada, and is now using the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to sue the Salvadoran government for
hundreds of millions of dollars in ‘lost profits’.
The company has been telling their shareholders that they are still hopeful for a “resolution” with the Salvadoran government. However,
after the 2009 elections, El Salvador finally has a democratic government that is responding to the people’s demands. On Saturday, the
President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes reiterated his public commitment: “I will not authorize any mining exploration or exploitation
project” and he welcomed the process underway in the Legislative Assembly to pass a national ban on metallic mining.
El Salvador is standing strong in the face of violent attacks against rural communities that oppose the mines and the open threat of the
World Bank lawsuit. We need you to stand in solidarity with these struggles against corporate extortion, neocolonialism, and
environmental racism in Latin America today!
Let’s keep Pacific Rim’s phone ringing off the hook all morning; solidarity activists will take over at the start of the meeting (3 pm PST)
with a rally outside the conference center. Call Catherine McLeod-Seltzer, the Chair of the Board of Directors today to let her know that
she is up against the peoples of El Salvador, Canada and the US!
Click here to read more>>
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Today, the shareholders and Board of Directors of Pacific Rim Mining will meet for their Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, B.C.
When the government and people of El Salvador stopped Pacific Rim’s gold mines from opening, this Canadian corporation opened a
storefront in Nevada, and is now using the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to sue the Salvadoran government for
hundreds of millions of dollars in ‘lost profits’.
The company has been telling their shareholders that they are still hopeful for a “resolution” with the Salvadoran government. However,
after the 2009 elections, El Salvador finally has a democratic government that is responding to the people’s demands. On Saturday, the
President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes reiterated his public commitment: “I will not authorize any mining exploration or exploitation
project” and he welcomed the process underway in the Legislative Assembly to pass a national ban on metallic mining.
El Salvador is standing strong in the face of violent attacks against rural communities that oppose the mines and the open threat of the
World Bank lawsuit. We need you to stand in solidarity with these struggles against corporate extortion, neocolonialism, and
environmental racism in Latin America today!
Let’s keep Pacific Rim’s phone ringing off the hook all morning; solidarity activists will take over at the start of the meeting (3 pm PST)
with a rally outside the conference center. Call Catherine McLeod-Seltzer, the Chair of the Board of Directors today to let her know that
she is up against the peoples of El Salvador, Canada and the US!
Click here to read more>>
| Click map for larger view |
| Click flag for Country Report |
Mauricio Funes Cartagena
President since 1 June 2009
President since 1 June 2009
Salvador Sanchez Cerén
Vice President since 1 June 2009
Vice President since 1 June 2009
| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS |
None reported.
Mauricio Funes Cartagena
President since 1 June 2009
President since 1 June 2009