El Salvador: Information on the attitude and actions of authorities in cases of rape and of abduction

Please find attached several articles that report common crime in El Salvador in 1994, including rape, although most of the attachments refer to organized crime and kidnapping. These articles mention the recent creation of a special anti-kidnapping force, and purges of the police forces in an attempt to reduce the presence of criminal elements within their ranks. They also include some crime statistics and comments by the United Nations Observer mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) and others on the effectiveness of the police and the judiciary.

Response to Information Request SLV16857.F of 23 March 1994, available through the Refinfo database, provides information on the penalties for rape and on how cases of the treatment of rapes by the judiciary and the institutions that assist rape victims. An English translation of SLV16857.F cannot be provided with this Response.

Please note that due to time constraints the research for this Response covers only 1994 publications, with the exception of a 1993 Latinamerica Press article on the situation of women in El Salvador. It did not cover reports included in the DIRB Indexed Media Review (IMR), available at your Regional Documentation Centre, which contains several current articles on kidnapping and other forms of non-political crime, or 1994 contacts with oral sources in El Salvador. However, the information that follows, which was prepared by Human Rights Internet in 1993, does include information provided by sources in El Salvador. This information adds to that provided in SLV16857.F and the attached documents.

According to Country Reports 1993, San Salvador hospitals recorded an average of 56 rapes per month from January to September 1993; in contrast, the police received only three cases a month basis during the same period (1994, 441). The forensic clinic in San Salvador treated 564 rape victims in 1992 (CEMUJER 27 Aug. 1993).

According to a sociologist at the Centro de Estudios Feministas (Centre for Feminist Studies, CEF), a study conducted by the office of the Attorney General shows that between 1975 and 1987, 27 per cent of rape cases that went to court resulted in a guilty verdict for the alleged attacker (25 Aug. 1993). According to the source, victims must provide witnesses who know the alleged attacker by name; otherwise, their testimony is invalidated (ibid.). According to Country Reports 1993, "prosecution of rape cases is difficult because of pervasive cultural attitudes" (1994, 441).

Police agents have reportedly been accused of rape; in February 1993 the non-governmental Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador (Human Rights Commission of El Salvadoror, CDHES) received a complaint from a woman who was beaten and raped by two members of the National Police on police premises. She was then left in a cell for the night and released the following day (CDHES 24 Feb. 1993).

The Salvadoran government has tried to promote judicial redress for rape, primarily by raising awareness about the issue (SNF 25 Aug. 1993; CEMUJER 27 Aug. 1993). According to Country Reports, the Attorney General's office has been urging rape victims through a media campaign to report to the authorities and press charges (1994, 441). However, most rape victims are reluctant to take legal action (Miranda Mor n 6 Apr. 1993). It is estimated that approximately 90 per cent of rapes may go unreported (IMU 1993, 1; CONAMUS 30 Aug. 1993). The media also under-reports the incidence of rape (CEMUJER 27 Aug. 1993). A breakdown of local newspaper coverage conducted by CEMUJER shows that 75 cases of rape of women (including 40 of girls) were covered by the news in 1992 (CEMUJER 1993, 1).

While the government has been providing gender training through the National Secretariat of the Family (SNF) to professionals working with victims of sexual assault (SNF 1993), it is reported that the workshops are not mandatory and reportedly few individuals, including judges, ever show up for training (CONAMUS 30 Aug. 1993).

The National Secretariat of the Family has established three Clinics for Integrated Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault in three of the largest hospitals in El Salvador. The clinics provide traditional medical care as well as psychological help to women in need of assistance, whether they are victims of sexual assault or domestic violence (Innochenti 14 Mar. 1992, 197-98). The clinics also provide legal assistance (United Nations 3 Feb. 1993, 18) and initiate legal proceedings (Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization 18 May 1993).

According to the Secretary General of CONAMUS, the personnel working in these government clinics lack specialized training in the field, and do not provide follow-up psychological counselling to victims (CONAMUS 30 Aug. 1993). The SNF clinics reportedly give priority to helping victims of rape over women who have experienced other forms of sexual assault or domestic violence (Innochenti 14 Mar. 1992, 200).

Women also have access to various health units and hospitals established by the Ministerio de Salúd Pública y Asistencia Social (Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, MSPAS) throughout the country, although these are not specialized to treat victims of sexual violence and provide no psychological care (Innochenti 14 Mar. 1992, 197-199). Additionally, the SNF, the Benjamin Bloom Hospital and the Asociación Salvadoreña de Promoción, Capacitación y Desarollo (Salvadoran Association for Promotion, Training and Development, PROCADES) jointly run the Centro de Prevención contra el Maltrato Infantil (Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse, CEPREMIN), which deals with cases of rape and sexual abuse within its much broader mandate (ibid.). CEPREMIN also runs a public awareness campaign to promote respect for children, provides therapy and psychological assistance to families, conducts research and provides follow-up treatment on an individual basis, gives legal assistance and monitors cases of family conflict, and provides periodic guidance to families (United Nations 3 Feb. 1993, 18).

In 1991 a public prosecutor was assigned to the children's hospital in San Salvador to help victims and their families take legal action against alleged rapists (Country Reports 1993 1994, 441). In December 1992, the Departamento de Protección del Niño y la Mujer de la Fiscalía General de la República (Woman and Child Protection Department of the Attorney General of the Republic) was created to provide legal assistance to women and children who are victims of sexual aggression, as well as physical and moral abuse (Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization 18 May 1993).

In the non-governmental sector, CONAMUS runs the only specialized clinic that treats cases of sexual and domestic violence (CONAMUS 30 Aug. 1993). This clinic, much like the three SNF clinics, provides medical, psychological and legal assistance to women (ibid.; Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization 18 May 1993). However, this clinic also provides follow-up psychological care to victims. The clinic, which is located in San Salvador, treated 1488 women during the first six months of 1993 (CONAMUS 30 Aug. 1993).

In addition to its specialized clinic, CONAMUS runs the only shelter for women in the country. The shelter can house 10 women and 25 children at any one time. In the first six months of 1993, 45 women were given shelter by CONAMUS. The average time a woman stays in the shelter is two months. When they leave, a social worker is assigned to them and further therapy is provided (CONAMUS 30 Aug. 1993).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Centro de Estudios Feministas (CEF). 25 August 1993. Telephone interview with sociologist.

Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador (CDHES). 24 February 1993. Ficha de Denuncia. (No. 0029/93). San Salvador: CDHES.

Coordinadora Nacional de la Mujer Salvadoreña (CONAMUS). 30 August 1993. Telephone interview with secretary general.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

Secretaría Nacional de la Familia (SNF), Republic of El Salvador. 25 August 1993. Telephone interview with director of the Unit on the Adolescent.

Innochenti, Zoila. 14 March 1992. "Mujer y Violencia en El Salvador." Violencia contra la Mujer: un Problema de Salud Pública. Edited by Leda Badilla, Laura Marcela Amador, Juan Manuel Retana. Managua: Organización Panamericana de la Salud/Organización Mundial de la Salud.

Instituto de Estudios de la Mujer "Norma Virginia Guirola de Herrera" (CEMUJER). 27 August 1993. Telephone interview with founding member.

Instituto de Investigación, Capacitación y Desarollo de la Mujer "Norma Virginia Guirola de Herrera" (IMU). 1993. Violencia hacia las Mujeres en El Salvador: Diagnóstico General. San Salvador: IMU.

Miranda Mor n, Ana Mercedes and Gloria Miriam Rubio Santos. 6 April 1993. Monografía sobre la realidad de la mujer Salvadoreña en los diversos mbitos del quehacer cotidiano. San Salvador: IMU.

Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization (OPS/OMS) [San Salvador]. 18 May 1993. Fax received by DIRB.

United Nations. Economic and Social Council. Convention on the Rights of the Child. 3 February 1993. (CRC/C/3/Add.9). Committee on the Rights of the Child: Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 44 of the Convention. New York: United Nations.

Attachments

Canal Doce Televisión [San Salvador, in Spanish]. 10 August 1994. "Calderon Comments on Joint Commission Report." (FBIS-LAT-94-159 17 Aug. 1994, p. 22)

. 29 July 1994. "Commission Report: Death Squads Decentralized." (FBIS-LAT-94-147 1 Aug. 1994, p. 22)

. "Calderon Views Report." (FBIS-LAT-94-147 1 Aug. 1994, pp. 22-23)

. 1 July 1994. William Menendez. "President Orders Investigation of National Police." (FBIS-LAT-94-128 5 July 1994, p. 27)

. 24 June 1994. Edwin Gongora. "President Announces Changes To Fight Crime Wave." (FBIS-LAT-94-123 27 June 1994, p. 24)

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 2 September 1994. "El Salvador: ONUSAL Releases XI Human Rights Report," p. 7.

Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 23 March 1994. David Clark Scott. "Delays in Police Reform Stir Mistrust in Salvador." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 21 Mar.-3 Apr. 1994, pp. 2-3)

El Diario de Hoy [San Salvador, in Spanish]. 30 July 1994. "Defense Minister: Report 'Contradictory'." (FBIS-LAT-94-147 1 Aug. 1994, pp. 23-24)

. 30 April 1994. "President Vows to Intensify War Against Crime." (FBIS-LAT-94-086 4 May 1994, pp. 12-13)

. 22 April 1994. "Coffee Growers Urge Army To Rid Santa Ana of Gangs." (FBIS-LAT-94-084 2 May 1994, p. 27)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 9 July 1994. Juan José Dalton. "Military No Longer Above the Law." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 27 June-10 July 1994, pp. 3-4)

. 14 June 1994. "Army May Help Fight Against Kidnappings." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 13-26 June 1994, p. 1)

. 31 May 1994. "Civil Police Create Anti-Kidnapping Force." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 30 May-12 June 1994, p. 3)

La Prensa Gr fica [San Salvador, in Spanish]. 29 July 1994. "'Death Squads' Said To Operate Within Security Corps." (FBIS-LAT-94-150 4 Aug. 1994, p. 22)

. "More on Commission Report." (FBIS-LAT-94-150 4 Aug. 1994, pp. 22-23)

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 16 June 1994. Nora Franco. "UN Observers to Stay in El Salvador," p. 5.

. 2 September 1993. Paul Jeffrey. "Salvadoran Women Work For New Revolution," p. 6.

Los Angeles Times. 16 June 1994. Tracy Wilkinson. "Gangs Find Fresh Turf in Salvador." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 13-26 June 1994, pp. 1-3)

NOTIMEX [Mexico City, in Spanish]. "Army Awaits Orders To Engage Armed Gangs." (FBIS-LAT-94-075 19 Apr. 1994, p. 16)

Radio Cadena YSU [San Salvador, in Spanish]. 17 May 1994. "Cristiani on Onusal, Kidnappings, International Aid." (FBIS-LAT-94-098 20 May 1994, p. 12)

San Francisco Chronicle. 23 August 1994. Daniel Alder. "Crime Gangs Replace Death Squads in El Salvador." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 22 Aug.-4 Sept. 1994, pp. 3-4)

San Francisco Examiner. 20 February 1994. Matthew Carr. "El Salvador in Grip of Rampant Crime." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.] 21 Feb.-6 Mar. 1994, pp. 2-3)