HomeNewsBriefEl Salvador Death Squad Cases Go International
BRIEF

El Salvador Death Squad Cases Go International

EL SALVADOR / 7 SEP 2017 BY PARKER ASMANN EN

A new report from two local Salvadoran rights groups has provided further evidence of extrajudicial killings carried out by El Salvador's police forces, in a case that now appears to be entering the international judicial stage.

In the report, which was presented September 5 to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Verónica Reyna of the Passionist Social Service (Servicio Social Pasionista - SSPAS) and Arnau Baulenas of the Institute of Human Rights of the Central American University (Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Centroamericana - IDHUCA) chronicled three cases of alleged extrajudicial killings carried out by El Salvador's National Civil Police (Policía Nacional Civil - PNC), El Faro reported.

SEE ALSO: El Salvador News and Profiles

The three cases presented to the commission were a massacre at the San Blas Estate, the murder of a police officer's sister and her husband, and the murder of Ángel Ábrego in February 2016, according to El Faro.

Additionally, El Salvador's Office of the Procurator for the Defense of Human Rights (Procuraduría para la Defensa de Derechos Humanos) has investigated 47 cases of extrajudicial killings since 2015, according to El Faro. And official figures from the Attorney General's Office report a 630 percent increase in security officials accused of homicide between 2014 and 2016.

The report presented to the IACHR also says that between 2014 and 2017, 238 security forces were allegedly killed by gang members while 1,415 people -- 90 percent of whom are suspected gang members -- have been killed in "alleged confrontations" between security forces and alleged gang members since 2015. For IACHR Commissioner James Cavallaro, the disproportionate ratio of slain gang members to slain police was troubling.

"When there are figures like this, it's about some clashes and many execution cases. We are already working with a pattern of extremely excessive use of deadly force by state agents," Cavallaro said during the hearing. (See video below)

(Video c/o El Faro)

After the presentation, El Salvador Deputy Minister of Security Raúl López vehemently denied any state responsibility in possible human rights violations.

"I totally reject and deny any responsibility of the Salvadoran government in illegal acts that violate fundamental rights or human rights of the people," he said.

InSight Crime Analysis

The alleged death squad case in El Salvador is quickly becoming an international judicial case, which could have implications for foreign assistance to El Salvador's security forces. The US government is still figuring out how to allocate a large assistance package for the region, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) works closely with the Salvadoran police.

SEE ALSO: El Salvador Hesitant to Respond to Police Death Squad Allegations

But so far, the international attention hasn't appeared to have any consequences in El Salvador. On September 4, the officers accused of extrajudicial killings were released and put on administrative leave, although final judgements have yet to be made as investigators are still in the preliminary stage.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 1 FEB 2022

In 2021, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a marked increase in murders. Resurgent violence was to…

COVID AND CRIME / 10 MAY 2021

With a new law granting immunity to El Salvador officials accused of mismanaging coronavirus funds and the resignation of a…

EL SALVADOR / 23 JUN 2021

On the eve of the extradition of top leaders of El Salvador’s feared Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang to the United…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…