COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE BEGINS REVIEW OF REPORT OF EL SALVADOR

The Committee against Torture this morning began its consideration of the second periodic report of El Salvador on the efforts of that country to give effect to the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Introducing the report, Byron Fernando Larlos Lopez, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, highlighted that, as of 1 June 2009, El Salvador had embarked on a new stage in its history with the implementation of a new plan for national development. Part of its programme for 2009-2014 was a strategic plan for justice, reparation and truth, which sought to address the grave human rights violations that were occurring now and in the recent past, and the Government had adopted a policy of comprehensive compensation – both moral and material – for victims of those violations, as well as a State programme for reparations to be paid to victims of human rights violations.

Serving as Rapporteur for the report of El Salvador, Committee Expert Luis Gallegos Chiriboga, noted a number of areas of concern, including growing violence in society and gangs (maras), in particular affecting the most vulnerable areas of society, women, children, minorities and immigrants; high rates of excessive use of force by the police; prolonged preliminary detentions; lack of monitoring in detention centres; overcrowding in detention centres and prisons; unresolved cases of disappearances in 1980-1992; and the situation of impunity, in particular the statute of limitations in the Amnesty Law for certain acts.

Essadia Belmir, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of El Salvador, noted with concern that those accused of crimes and those convicted of crimes were kept in the same facilities. That was further compounded by a problem of overcrowding. She also highlighted the phenomenon of a high rate of murders of women and urged the Government to investigate that phenomenon, to take measures to prevent it as well as to provide compensation to victims.

A major concern raised by an Expert was the issue of impunity. Apparently complaints brought before various bodies, including the Public Procurator for Human Rights, did not automatically trigger investigations. Even when investigations were opened, the results were not satisfactory.

The delegation of El Salvador also included other members of the Permanent Mission of El Salvador in Geneva. El Salvador is among the 146 States parties to the Convention and as such it must present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention.

When the Committee reconvenes in public, at 10 a.m. on Friday, 6 November, it will hear the response of El Salvador to questions put by Experts this morning. The fifth periodic report of Spain, which was originally scheduled to be reviewed this afternoon, will now be considered on Thursday, 12 November at 3 p.m.


Report of El Salvador

While substantial progress has been made as a result of the peace process launched in 1992, including in the development and consolidation of and respect for democratic institutions and reforms to improve the standard of living and general security of the population, a constant challenge for the Salvadoran authorities has been to control and fight the current levels of crime and violence in El Salvador and ensure the safety of citizens. The second periodic report of El Salvador (CAT/C/SLV/2), which covers the period from October 2000 to 2006, says that the problem of gangs, which ties in with the breakdown of the family and the legacy of the armed conflict that gripped El Salvador from 1980 to 1992, has prompted inter-agency efforts to counter gang violence through programmes based on prevention and citizen participation, deterrence and prosecution, and rehabilitation and social reintegration of gang members.

Since 1999, the National Civil Police has taken steps to monitor police officers’ performance by introducing a disciplinary regime. In 2000, a Commission on the Purging of the National Civil Police was established to assess the members of the police force. Between 2000 and 2002, as a result of the Commission’s work, disciplinary proceedings for human rights violations were initiated against 42 police officers, 14 of whom were dismissed and 28 suspended without pay, on the grounds of abuse of authority and inhuman, degrading and discriminatory treatment. As regards police officers brought to trial, the National Civil Police reported that from 2000 until the end of 2006, 40 police officers and 1 administrative official had been tried for abuse of authority. While the Office of the Inspector-General of the National Civil Police reported that when inspecting police units it did not observe any systematic use of torture during questioning, the Office of the Procurator for the Protection of Human Rights has reported on the alleged torture of detainees, finding that the right to personal integrity had been violated during arrest and questioning procedures. In response to these reports, the National Police has indicated that no methods violating human rights have been used during investigation procedures. In addition, the Public Security Academy, responsible for basic police training, has incorporated theoretical and practical human rights training in its various course syllabuses, including on the Convention against Torture.

Presentation of Report

BYRON FERNANDO LARLOS LOPEZ, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the new Government of El Salvador, which took office on 1 June, was totally committed to the respect of law and the full exercise of guarantees for freedom of the person, stemming from the Constitution, national law, international treaties and international law. El Salvador sought to ensure the enjoyment and observance of human rights of its population and joined with public institutions to do that.

El Salvador's report contained information relating to the period from 2000 to 2006, and was elaborated following consultations with relevant national actors, in accordance with the Committee's guidelines, Mr. Larlos Lopez added.

At the national level, Mr. Larlos Lopez noted that the Constitution, in its articles 2, 11 and 27, set out the right of the individual to life, physical and mental integrity and to be protected and to enjoy those rights. Similarly, the definition of torture had been incorporated as a crime in the Criminal Code, carrying sentences of imprisonment of three to six years for public officials who had committed such acts. The Law on Prisons also prohibited torture of detainees by prison staff, and the Organizational Act for the National Police Service specifically set out that no member of the police force might instigate or tolerate any act of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.

In many cases, acts of torture or ill-treatment were committed in the framework of the administration of justice, Mr. Larlos Lopez observed. The competent authorities were responsible for investigating and assessing responsibility for acts of torture or ill-treatment by police or others in detention centres or prisons, and implementing the applicable administrative and criminal sanctions. The Procurator for the Protection of Human Rights, for his part, received complaints brought against public institutions or state agents which had committed acts of torture, disproportionate use of force, or inhuman treatment of detainees, and had the competence to issue findings of responsibility and to monitor action taken on such cases.

It was important to highlight the role of the Inspector General of the National Civil Police, a new authority tasked with ensuring that the police followed a code of conduct and was responsible for imposing sanctions. It was also worth noting that the National Academy for Public Security, which had been created by the peace accords of 1992, and which was responsible for the training of the police, had put in place measures to ensure that police did not violate an individual’s human rights, including by committing acts of torture or ill-treatment, in the course of investigations and interrogations. To do that, the National Academy used the Istanbul Protocol in training police cadets and ensured that, as of 1992, all police were trained on human rights, including the prohibition of torture.

As of 1 June 2009, El Salvador had embarked on a new stage in its history with the implementation of a new plan for national development, Mr. Larlos Lopez said. Part of its programme for 2009-2014 was a strategic plan for justice, reparation and truth, which sought to address the grave human rights violations that were occurring now and in the recent past, and the Government had adopted a policy of comprehensive compensation – both moral and material – for victims of those violations, as well as a State programme for reparations to be paid to victims of human rights violations.

While the Government had not taken concrete steps to make declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention (complaints by other States parties or individuals that a State party was not fulfilling its obligations under the Convention), or to ratify the international instruments recommended by the Committee, Mr. Larlos Lopez noted that within the framework of the programme for 2009-2014, the Government had pledged to promote the principles of international human rights treaties and to review and lift reservations to such treaties. They would shortly establish a working group to review that question.

Questions Raised by Committee Experts

LUIS GALLEGOS CHIRIBOGA, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of El Salvador, noted a number of areas of concern, including growing violence in society and gangs (maras), in particular affecting the most vulnerable areas of society, women, children, minorities and immigrants; high rates of excessive use of force by the police; prolonged preliminary detentions; lack of monitoring in detention centres; overcrowding in detention centres and prisons; unresolved cases of disappearances in 1980-1992; and the situation of impunity, in particular the statute of limitations in the Amnesty Law for certain acts.

Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga also noted that there was no punishment in El Salvadoran Criminal Code for cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

With reference to anti-gang legislation, Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga was concerned that the provisions therein might infringe rights of children, and the issue of the criminalization of minors.

Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga also asked for specific information on complaints of torture and ill-treatment brought to the Procurator for Human Rights; on the results of the inter-agency commission to investigate the disappearance of minors during the armed conflict; on prosecutions and punishments issued for state agents in torture cases; and information on what prosecutions had been brought under the Anti-Gang Legislation.

There had been no reform of the General Amnesty Law to Consolidate Peace, as previously requested by the Committee. Moreover, in September 2000, the Supreme Court of Justice had ruled that there were important exceptions to the Amnesty Law, including cases which did not involve reparations for violations of a fundamental right, and more information was requested.

ESSADIA BELMIR, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of El Salvador, noted with concern the statement in the report that the Office of the Procurator for the Protection of Human Rights had not participated in the drafting of the report, despite an invitation from the Government to do so, and asked for more information on how the report was drawn up.

Regarding places of detention, Ms. Belmir highlighted that those accused of crimes and those convicted of crimes were kept in the same facilities. That was further compounded by a problem of overcrowding. Given these difficulties for male prisoners, she was further concerned about the situation for women and children in deprivation of liberty situations.

Ms. Belmir also highlighted the phenomenon of a high rate of murders of women. Women between 15 and 20 years old seemed to be the target of those murders. What was the reason for this? Were these revenge crimes or crimes of honour? The Government had to investigate that phenomenon, find the causes for it and find a way to prevent it as well as to provide compensation to victims. A similar concern was disappearances of children.

Other Committee Experts asked questions and voiced concerns related to, among others, the fact that there was no independent authority to review decisions and actions taken by the judiciary; that there was similarly no independent authority to monitor the police, with the head of the police inspection authority appointed by the head of the National Police; a concern that cases of torture or ill-treatment might be being prosecuted under a provision for "abuse of power" by State officials, rather than under criminal legislation; a concern that three to six years imprisonment was not a sufficiently harsh sentence for crimes of torture; and a low rate of prosecutions and convictions for such acts, as well as light sentences or merely administrative sanctions applied.

Regarding prison overcrowding, an Expert noted that the situation in prisons in El Salvador was explosive. Perhaps both of those phenomena – the overcrowding and the explosive atmosphere – were owing to a lack of timely trials. It could also be that the prison staff were improperly trained in dealing with the prison population, and that the prison policy was not based on the goals of social rehabilitation and reintegration for prisoners.

A major concern raised by an Expert was the issue of impunity. Apparently complaints brought before various bodies, including the Public Procurator for Human Rights, did not automatically trigger investigations. Even when investigations were opened, the results were not satisfactory. In one case students and their families had complained that police had used excessive force in the context of a public demonstration. The case had been referred to the Inspector-General of the National Civil Police, and eventually it had been found that seven police had used excessive force. But no action appeared to have been taken against those concerned nor any reparations made.


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