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Title: El Salvador Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
EL SALVADOR
El Salvador is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with an executive
branch headed by a president, a unicameral legislative assembly, and a
separate, politically appointed judiciary. Armando Calderon Sol of the
Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party was inaugurated President
for a 5-year term in June 1994. In the Legislative Assembly, the ARENA
party holds a plurality. Seven other parties (or parties in formation)
also hold seats, including the ex-guerrilla organization Frente
Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN), and its offshoot,
the Partido Democrata (PD).
On April 31, the U.N. Secretary General declared the peace process based
on the 1992 Peace Accords which ended a 12-year civil war irreversible.
The U.N. Security Council ended the mandate of its observer mission
(ONUSAL) and authorized the Secretary General to form a smaller U.N.
mission. Progress, though slower than hoped in some areas, continued on
implementation of the Peace Accords. The Government completed
demobilization of the military-dominated National Police in December
1994, and deployed nearly half of the planned 20,000 officers of the new
National Civilian Police (PNC) in its place. Land transfers, judicial
reform, and electoral reform have all progressed although in each area
there have been delays.
The El Salvador Armed Forces (ESAF) continued to downsize and have
approximately 18,000 of the 31,000 troop ceiling authorized by the Peace
Accords. Although the military is no longer responsible for public
security, the President ordered the ESAF to conduct joint patrols with
the PNC in rural areas in response to concerns about rising crime. In
practice, the military protects PNC officers in the execution of their
duties. Complaints against the ESAF registered with the Human Rights
Ombudsman's Office (PDDH) declined significantly, and none was verified.
Some members of the PNC committed human rights abuses including
excessive use of force, denial of due process, and improper detention.
El Salvador has a mixed economy largely based upon agriculture and light
manufacturing. The Calderon Sol Government maintained its predecessor's
commitment to free market reforms. People are free to pursue economic
interests, and private property is respected. The 1995 rate of real
economic growth was 6.3 percent.
In December 1993, the Government, in conjunction with the United
Nations, formed the Joint Group for the Investigation of Illegal Armed
Groups with Political Motivation in El Salvador. The Joint Group found
that some groups and persons continued to resort to violence to obtain
political results, but concluded that the Government is committed to
combating politically motivated violence. It also highlighted the
growth of violent organized crime in El Salvador.
The level of criminal violence, particularly murder, assaults,
kidnaping, robberies, and crimes against women and children, remained
high. Allegations of politically motivated assassinations continue but
are less frequent. There were no confirmed cases of politically
motivated killings, but investigations in a number of cases remain open.
Some public figures reported death threats. A particularly disturbing
development has been the rise of vigilante groups which claim to be
fighting crime and, in some cases, fighting corrupt public
officials. Such groups have claimed responsibility for killing some 20
people whom they identified as gang members. At the Joint Group's
recommendation, the Government created a special unit within the PNC to
investigate political and organized crime in August 1994. This unit's
operation was initially hampered by lack of technical and personnel
resources. It scored a major success in July, however, arresting a
number of alleged members of a notorious vigilante group, which included
several members of the PNC. The PNC functioned without an Inspector
General from April until October after the Vice Minister of Public
Security dismissed the incumbent for poor performance. The absence of
an Inspector General hurt PNC credibility, but the new one was widely
regarded as a solid choice.
The PDDH improved under a new Human Rights Ombudsman, elected in March,
but has not yet demonstrated its investigative ability. The PDDH
received a number of complaints against the PNC alleging excessive use
of force, arbitrary arrest, and detention. Allegations of judicial
misconduct were the second most common. Complaints against the ESAF ran
far behind. Delays in bringing detainees to trial continued.
Prison conditions remain poor. Discrimination against women, the
disabled, and indigenous people, violence against women, and abuse of
children are other human rights problems. Reports of sexual abuse and
mistreatment of women continued to rise. Some 20 judges have been
forced to resign since the judicial reform process began, and others
were under investigation. While moving deliberately, the new Supreme
Court seated in 1994 displayed relatively greater energy in judicial
reform. Progress on the creation of the special courts and procedures
for political and organized crime cases has been limited. Problems of
corruption and incompetence in the judicial system remained.
The Government moved to improve the legal basis for respect for human
rights. In March the Legislative Assembly acted on a major Truth
Commission (a body established by the 1992 Peace Accords) recommendation
by voting unanimously to ratify two international human rights treaties
(the International Pact of Civil and Political Rights and the Optional
Protocol of the American Convention of Human Rights) and to recognize
the compulsory jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights. Although it acted with some reservations, El Salvador has
ratified four of the six international instruments recommended by the
Truth Commission.
In March the U.N. Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), citing the reduction
in complaints of human rights violations, removed El Salvador from its
list of countries subject to permanent monitoring and ended the role of
the UNHRC Independent Expert. At the recommendation of the UNHRC, a
delegation from the U.N. Human Rights Center in Geneva visited in June
to begin the design of a technical assistance program for El Salvador.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killings
There were no confirmed cases of political killings, although there were
murders with possible political overtones. Political violence has
declined rapidly over the last few years; common crime has risen just as
rapidly. The result is that most of the extrajudicial killings were due
to vigilantism, rather than to political motivations. The most
notorious vigilante organization, the so-called Sombra Negra (Black
Shadow) group, surfaced in San Miguel in December 1994 when it murdered
three reputed gang members. The Sombra Negra claimed credit for
killings of alleged gang members during the early part of the year. In
May unidentified persons claiming to speak for Sombra Negra threatened
allegedly corrupt judges, and "copycat" threats appeared, supposedly
from new groups. The existence of other groups was never proven, and
those threats were never carried out. In July the PNC's Organized Crime
Division arrested 16 alleged members of the group, including 4 members
of the PNC. Of those arrested, nine, including two PNC officers, were
bound over for trial; the investigation continues. Immediately after
the arrests, the PDDH published the results of an investigation into the
December 1994 Sombra Negra killings. The investigation castigated
Sombra Negra for usurping the role of the State and noted that there was
still no definitive proof of PNC involvement. It also called for an
exhaustive internal investigation into the possibility that the
vigilantes might have ties to the police. The PDDH report quoted an
anonymous source as saying that Sombra Negra enjoyed logistic and moral
support from some public officials in the Department of San Miguel. The
PDDH declined to name the officials. Approximately 20 people have been
killed by vigilante groups or in circumstances suggestive of their mode
of operation.
Although there were no confirmed cases of political killings, in some
cases political motivation cannot be ruled out. In
February six unidentified attackers murdered the ARENA mayor of the town
of Osicala, Jose Natividad Majano Garcia. In March Joel de Jesus
Melgar, the president of a local cooperative and an FMLN member, was
kidnaped and murdered. His family speculated that the motive was a land
dispute involving the cooperative. In April FMLN and municipal council
member Jaime Coto was shot and killed; the killing may have been related
to land disputes. In July unknown assailants shot and killed Guadalupe
Villalta, a member of a street vendors union. The killing came after
confrontations that occurred when San Salvador municipal police tried to
clear vendors from a street the police claimed the vendors were
obstructing. In September the Criminal Investigative Division detained
19 PNC agents for possible involvement in the murder of Adriano
Vilanova, the suspect in a fatal hit and run accident. In November
Castulo Rodriguez Caballero, the ARENA mayor of a rural town was
murdered. Also in November, shots were fired at the car of Legislative
Assembly Vice President and PD leader, Ana Guadalupe Martinez, seriously
wounding the driver, a PNC officer. In December FMLN leader Ramon
Boanerges was shot and killed in his truck while driving outside the
capital city. These cases remain under investigation.
There were no new developments in the investigations of the 1994
killings of: Simon de Jesus Cartagena Pineda and his stepdaughter,
Javier Roberto Perdomo, Ismael Bernardino Sion, Bill Martinez Zaldana,
Heriberto Galicia Sanchez, Jose Isaias Calzada Mejia, Luis Valdivieso
Granados, Elba Irene Magana de Romero, and David Faustino Merino
Ramirez. Nor were there any developments in the investigation of the
shootings that occurred at a bus cooperative protest near San Miguel.
The prosecution of those responsible for the 1991 murders of Lieutenant
Colonel David Pickett and Private First Class Ernest Dawson came to a
close. Pickett and Dawson were in a U.S. army helicopter that was shot
down by FMLN combatants in 1991. A third crew member, Chief Warrant
Officer Daniel Scott, was killed in the crash, but Pickett and Dawson
survived only to be murdered by their FMLN captors. Despite El
Salvador's apparent obligations under international law, the Supreme
Court ruled in August that the killers were protected by the 1993 law
which granted a general amnesty for all political crimes committed
during the war.
There was progress in the investigation of the 1993 shooting of FMLN
leader Francisco Velis Castellanos. The authorities identified a former
PNC detective, Carlos Romero Alfaro, as a principal suspect, and issued
an order for his arrest. Due to what PNC investigations called
negligence, Romero Alfaro escaped arrest and fled to the United States
where he was apprehended in September. In early 1996, a magistrate
judge ordered his extradition, but it has not yet taken place.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Constitution prohibits such practices, but complaints against the
PNC for lack of due process and use of excessive force continued.
The PNC was the subject of more complaints of human rights violations
than any other government institution. This reflects nationwide
reaction to their arrest authority, to their use of force, and possibly,
to their inexperience. Out of a total of 4,696 complaints filed, the
PDDH received 1,844 allegations against the PNC. The majority were for
improper detention and denial of due process. The PDDH resolved a total
of 172 cases during the year. The most consistent criticism of the PNC
from human rights advocates focused on the use of force to confront
demonstrations by labor unions and groups of ex-civil war combatants
demanding compensation. Occasionally these confrontations became
violent. At times, the violence was initiated by the demonstrators who
resorted to swinging clubs and throwing rocks; however, the PNC antiriot
units were too quick to resort to tear gas and rubber bullets. A young
demonstrator died in November after the PNC unilaterally decided to
terminate PDDH-led negotiations and to storm a government building
seized by protesters who were holding hostages. A PNC officer, Tomas
Antonio Coronado Valles, fired a rubber bullet at close range at
protester Rene Antonio Pineda, wounding him mortally. The officer has
been charged with murder. The incident led to an agreement between the
PDDH and the PNC to develop programs aimed at training security forces
to confront such situations in a more humane way. PNC handling of
subsequent, similar situations was much improved.
Prison conditions remained bleak, with overcrowding the most significant
problem. The largest prison, designed for 800 prisoners, holds
approximately 2,400. Most cells are 15 by 20 feet, and some hold as
many as 24 prisoners. Some prisoners must sleep on the floor or "buy" a
bed when one becomes available. Prisoners are fed, but most find it
necessary to supplement their rations with help from family. The
prisons are violent, with guards exercising little control. Killings
among prisoners are common. Following prison riots in 1994, the
Ministry of Justice hired 500 additional guards. Although conditions
have not improved otherwise, no riots occurred in 1995.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention or compulsory
exile. The number of complaints of arbitrary arrest and detention
continues to decline. Complaints that PNC officers violated due process
rights of detainees continued. The courts generally enforced a ruling
that interrogation without the presence of a public defender amounts to
coercion, and any evidence so obtained is inadmissible; thus police
authorities generally delayed questioning until a public defender
arrived. However, since low salaries and insufficient supervision limit
the number of cases that public defenders handle, they are not always
available when the police call.
By law, the police may hold a person for 72 hours before delivering the
suspect to court, after which time the judge may order detention for an
additional 72 hours to determine if an investigation is warranted.
Because of a lack of holding cells, such detainees are often sent to the
prisons where they may be mixed with violent criminals. The law allows
120 days to investigate serious crimes, and 45 days for lesser offenses,
before a judge must bring the accused to trial or dismiss the case. In
practice, the authorities rarely observed these time limits.
Although the law permits release pending trial for crimes in which the
maximum penalty does not exceed 3 years, many crimes (homicide, murder,
manslaughter, rape, and crimes against property) carry penalties in
excess of 3 years, thereby precluding release pending trial. Because it
may take several years for a case to come to trial, some prisoners were
incarcerated longer than the maximum legal sentence for their crimes.
Any detainee may request a review (habeas corpus) by the Supreme Court,
but the court denies the overwhelming majority of such requests.
Approximately 80 percent of all inmates are awaiting trial or
sentencing.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary and the
Government respects this provision in practice.
The court structure has four levels: justices of the peace, first
instance (district) courts, second instance (appellate) courts, and the
Supreme Court. Civilian courts exercise jurisdiction over military
personnel who commit nonmilitary crimes. Judges, not juries, rule on
most cases; however, a judge cannot overrule a jury verdict nor can the
defendant appeal it to a higher court. Defendants may appeal their
sentences, however, up to the Supreme Court.
Two new court systems (family and juvenile offenders) began to function
on the basis of revised legislation which introduced oral trials and new
rights for the parties. Both systems stressed conciliation as an
alternative to adjudication. A new Juvenile Code provided for due
process in criminal cases, raised the age of majority from 16 to 18
years, limited sentences to a maximum of 7 years, and introduced
alternatives to incarceration. The hasty passage of these laws led to
numerous problems in implementation, largely a result of the continuing
weaknesses of the institutions involved and their difficulties in
assuming often radically changed roles.
Under the Constitution, defendants have the right to a presumption of
innocence, protection from self-incrimination, legal counsel, freedom
from coercion, and compensation for damages due to judicial error. They
also have the right to be present in court and to confront witnesses.
While compliance with these provisions is still far from satisfactory,
it improved, in large part due to the judicial school's training
programs and the evaluation activities conducted by the National Council
of the Judiciary (CNJ--an independent body provided for in the
Constitution to nominate, train, and evaluate judges) and the Supreme
Court.
The Assembly elected a new slate of justices to the Supreme Court in
1994. These justices continued their mandate to identify and dismiss
inept or corrupt judges. Since the program began, the Court has forced
about 20 lower level judges to resign and is investigating several more.
Judges who felt threatened by the CNJ were critical of the process of
evaluations it conducted. With a partial change of membership of the
CNJ, and an entirely new Court, a cooperative relationship continued to
develop.
Despite some progress, problems of corruption and incompetence in the
judicial system remained. Although judicial salaries are now high
enough to attract qualified judges, this is still not the case for
prosecutors or defense lawyers. Training programs are insufficient to
compensate for inadequate university training, low pay, and poor
supervision. While the new laws emphasizing rights represent a marked
improvement, they also add to the confusion by requiring new levels of
coordination, comprehension, and thoughtful application on the part of
court personnel. Impunity, especially of the politically, economically,
or institutionally well-connected, continues to be a problem. ONUSAL's
1994 comment that the judicial system's deficient institutions
contribute to this impunity as well as to the increase in common and
organized crime remains valid.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
According to the Constitution, the police must have the resident's
consent, a warrant, or a reasonable belief that a crime is being or is
about to be committed, before entering a private dwelling. Government
authorities generally respected these rights. Wiretapping of telephone
communications by the Government, private persons, and political parties
is illegal but occurs.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of the press, and the Government
respects this right in practice.
El Salvador has 5 daily newspapers, 10 television stations,
approximately 100 licensed radio stations, and 2 major cable television
systems. Print and broadcast journalists regularly criticize the
Government and report opposition views. According to major media
associations, the Government did not use direct or indirect means to
control the media. In December at the request of the Salvadoran
Association of Radio Broadcasters, the National Telecommunications
Association (ANTEL) closed 11 low-power, unlicensed radio stations
operating in small rural communities. The unlicensed stations charged
that they were victims of a government attempt to restrict free speech.
ANTEL countered that the stations' illicit signals interefered with
legitimate use of the radio spectrum. Negotiations continued. Some
media outlets accused the Government of favoritism in the apportionment
of its advertising but they did not produce any firm evidence to
substantiate their complaints. Vigilante organizations threatened
reporters and media outlets, but did not carry out any of their threats.
The Constitution provides for academic freedom, and the Government
respects this right in practice.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for peaceful assembly and association for any
lawful purpose and the Government respects this right in practice.
There is no requirement for permits to hold public meetings. The
Supreme Court declared in June that a 1994 decree by the mayor of San
Salvador prohibiting public demonstrations in the capital during
business hours was unconstitutional. Throughout the year, ex-combatants
demanding compensation and public workers wanting higher pay
demonstrated publicly in San Salvador. Confrontations between these
groups and the PNC led to accusations by the PDDH, the FMLN, and the
demonstrators of police brutality. The demonstrators regularly broke
the law; they blocked major thoroughfares, trespassed, and violated
regulations prohibiting demonstrators from wearing masks and carrying
weapons. The PNC responded with tear gas, rubber pellets, and batons--
in the view of some, prematurely resorting to force. In a November 23
incident, a PNC officer killed a protester with a rubber bullet fired at
close range.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government
respects this right in practice.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government respects
them in practice.
The Government has provisions for granting asylum and refugee status.
The Government cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees and the International Organization for Migration in assisting
refugees. There were no reports of forced expulsions.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Citizens exercise the right to change their government peacefully
through regularly scheduled elections. The President and Vice President
are elected every 5 years; legislative and municipal elections are held
every 3 years. The Constitution bars the President from election to
consecutive terms. Voting is by secret ballot, and there is universal
suffrage.
The number of women active in politics is relatively small. In the 1994
elections, Salvadorans elected nine women to the Legislative Assembly, a
slight increase from the number in the previous Assembly. The President
and 1 of the 4 vice presidents of the Assembly are women, as are 2 of
the 15 Supreme Court justices. One cabinet minister is a woman, as are
31 of the 262 mayors. In March a woman was elected to serve as the
Government's Human Rights Ombudsman.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The Government demonstrated a willingness to discuss human rights issues
and problems with international, local, and nongovernmental
organizations (NGO's). A number of local nongovernmental human rights
organizations, including the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador
(CDHES), focus primarily on alleged abuses by the Government. The CDHES
follows cases through the investigation and trial stages, provides free
legal assistance, and publishes monthly reports. Numerous other NGO's,
as well as church, labor, and university groups, have human rights
offices that operate without restriction. In addition, various
international human rights groups visit and operate freely, including
migration and other humanitarian and technical assistance groups.
The U.N. Mission to El Salvador, downsized in April, continues to
monitor implementation of the Peace Accords. It turned over its human
rights monitoring function to the PDDH. As the only human rights
organization specifically established by the Constitution, the PDDH
receives and investigates allegations of human rights abuses committed
by government officials and, if warranted, lodges complaints against
specific officials. The PDDH still suffers from administrative
confusion and a lack of well-trained personnel that hamper its
investigatory capacity. The new Ombudsman demonstrated a willingness to
speak out on public issues.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution states that all people are equal before the law, and
prohibits discrimination based on nationality, race, sex, or religion.
In practice discrimination against women and the disabled occurs in
salaries, in hiring, and in access to credit and to education.
Women
Violence against women, including domestic violence, is widespread.
Although the Institute of Legal Medicine recorded a decrease in reports
of domestic violence against women, from 312 reports during the July-
December 1994 period, to 235 during the January-June 1995 period, it is
still a serious concern. The Center for Women, a leading women's group,
reported that out of the 571 women who requested legal advice on the
most common women's problems such as housing, alimony, sexual abuse, and
child custody in the first 6 months of 1995, 451 said they had been
mistreated by their spouse. The Attorney General's office received on
average 10 cases a day of family violence, women being the main victims.
In general, women are reluctant to report spousal abuse. The PDDH says
that in 1994 hundreds of domestic abuse victims who underwent
psychotherapy refused to report their cases formally. Major government
institutions such as the PDDH, the Attorney General's office, the
Supreme Court, and the PNC coordinated efforts to combat family violence
via "The Program of Family Relations Improvement." The National
Secretariat for the Family has a much-publicized hotline for victims to
report domestic abuse. The hotline received 1,934 calls during its
first 3 months. Of these calls, 43.5 percent were reports of physical
abuse.
Reports of sexual abuse of women continued to rise. In 1994, the latest
year-long period for which statistics are available, the Institute for
Legal Medicine received 684 reports of sexual abuse of women, compared
with 598 reports in 1993. The Attorney General's office reported 591
cases of mistreatment of women in the first 6 months of 1995, compared
to 445 in the last 6 months of 1994. A main concern for women is that
due to the lack of witnesses, only 10 percent of rape cases result in
convictions. NGO's pushed for new criminal legislation to strengthen
the evidentiary value given to rape victims' testimony. There are eight
main NGO's actively coordinating efforts to promote women's rights.
Media articles made women more aware of these NGO's and the services
they offered, and encouraged women to report abuse and look for legal
advice.
The Constitution grants women the same legal rights as men but they
suffer discrimination in practice. A new Family Code went into effect
in 1994 which amended some laws that discriminated against women, most
notably the large number living in common law marriages. The new law
also established courts to resolve family disputes. El Salvador
ratified the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Sanction, and
Eradicate Violence Against Women.
Women suffer from economic discrimination and do not have equal access
to credit and land ownership. Women are paid less than men, and over 25
percent of working women earn less than the minimum wage. Of the
economically active female population, 65 percent work in the informal
economy. Training for women is generally confined to low-wage
occupational areas where women already hold most positions, such as
teaching, nursing, home industries, or small businesses.
Children
Government concern for children's rights and welfare is reflected more
in its efforts to reduce poverty and promote family stability through
economic growth than in direct expenditure on children. The Salvadoran
Institute for the Protection of Children (SIPC), an autonomous entity,
is responsible for protecting and promoting children's rights. A new
Juvenile Offender's Code went into effect in March, increasing the age
of majority from 16 to 18 years. The law guarantees minors due process,
establishes additional treatment facilities for offenders, and reduces
sentences for crimes by minors.
The Government works closely through state institutions and with the
United Nations Children's Fund to promote protection and general
awareness of children's rights. Children continued to fall victim to
physical and sexual abuse, abandonment, exploitation, and neglect,
however. The Institute of Legal Medicine recorded an increase in
reports of sexual abuse of children under 14 years of age, from 172
reports in the first 6 months of 1994, to 203 between July and December
1994, and 192 for the January to June 1995 period. The Attorney
General's office registered an increase in offenses against children,
nearly one half of which were sexual abuse cases. According to the
PDDH, over 85 percent of all abuse occurs in schools and at home, with
only a small percentage being reported. Out of the 1,857 children
attended at San Salvador's largest children's hospital between 1989 and
1993, nearly one quarter were treated for sexual abuse carried out by
family members or friends of the family. In order to promote and
protect the rights of children in the community, the Assistant Human
Rights Ombudsman for the Protection of Minors began to organize
municipal authorities, community members, education centers, and other
institutions to monitor and combat abuse against children and to educate
the community on children's rights.
Child abandonment and labor exploitation increased. The SIPC reports
that in 1994 abandonment was the second most common problem seen among
children; from January to April 1995 it was the leading problem. The
Attorney General's office runs a program for San Salvador's rising
number of street children but lack of funds hampers the program. The
murders of 7 street children caused alarm and a call for tighter
protection of the approximately 1,200 minors living in the streets of
San Salvador.
Relief from the child abandonment problem through adoption is limited by
the 1994 Family Code which favors domestic adoptions over foreign ones.
Infant malnutrition is also of increasing concern; Ministry of Health
figures for the first half of the year indicate that 50 percent of
infants under the age of five are undernourished. Government primary
nutrition programs exist but lack financial resources.
People With Disabilities
Except for the war wounded, who have secured both government and
international funding for rehabilitation and retraining programs, the
Government has no program to combat discrimination against the disabled,
nor are there any laws mandating provision of access for people with
disabilities. The Government does not enforce a decree passed in 1984
stating that one out of every 500 employees must be a person with
disabilities. Access to basic education is limited due to lack of
facilities and appropriate transportation. There is no provision of
state services. Only a few of the Government's community based health
promoters have been trained to treat the disabled, and they rarely
provide such service, tending rather to focus on life-threatening
conditions and preventive care for mothers and children. It is
estimated that between 7 and 10 percent of the population is afflicted
by some form of disability. There are few organizations dedicated to
protecting and promoting the rights of people with disabilities.
Foreign funds for badly needed rehabilitation services channeled through
the Telethon Foundation Pro-Rehabilitation, a local private voluntary
organization, help address numerous rehabilitation issues and provide
alternatives for the education and rehabilitation of the disabled
population. A semiautonomous institute, the Salvadoran Rehabilitation
Institute for the Disabled (ISRI), also provides assistance to the
disabled. ISRI offers medical treatment and counseling, special
education programs, and professional training courses. Founded in 1957,
ISRI has 10 centers throughout the country and receives assistance from
the Government and national and international private and
nongovernmental organizations.
The residents of a home for the blind went on a brief hunger strike in
September protesting conditions at the home. Widely reported in the
press, it appears to be the first time that people with disabilities
banded together for this sort of protest. They succeeded in removing
the director of the home and prompted the Government to create a special
commission made up of representatives of the PDDH, the Legislative
Assembly, and the home's residents, to address their complaints.
Indigenous People
El Salvador is an ethnically homogeneous country, although a small
segment of the population claims to have descended solely from
indigenous people. The last census of Indians showed 80,000 in 1930, or
5.6 percent of the population. In 1932 government forces killed
approximately 30,000 mostly indigenous people following an uprising. In
the face of such repression, most remaining indigenous people adopted
local customs and successfully assimilated into the general population.
There remain a few very small communities of indigenous people who still
wear traditional dress, speak their native language, and maintain
traditional customs without repression or interference. The
Constitution makes no specific provisions for the rights of indigenous
people.
The indigenous population is believed to be the poorest group in the
country. In a 1994 study, the PDDH found that 90 percent of indigenous
people lived in conditions of extreme poverty, with average monthly
incomes one-half the legal minimum wage. Employment opportunities
outside the informal economy are few, and a high illiteracy rate
precludes indigenous people from competing for skilled jobs. Indigenous
people generally earn less than other agricultural laborers, and
indigenous women in particular have little access to educational and
work opportunities since they head most of the households. Access to
land is a growing problem confronting indigenous people. Few possess
titles to land, and access to bank loans and other forms of credit is
extremely limited. Domestic violence is widespread within indigenous
communities.
The Salvadoran National Indigenous Association sponsored the first
meeting of the indigenous population in August. Leaders of the event
called for respect for indigenous rights, as well as for constitutional
recognition of their existence. The National Council for Art and
Culture opened an indigenous department, which works together with 11
indigenous organizations to promote and support customs and traditional
festivals.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution prohibits the Government from using nationality, race,
sex, creed, or political philosophy as a means to prevent workers or
employers from organizing themselves into unions or associations.
Numerous and sometimes conflicting laws governing labor relations impede
full realization of the freedom of association, although Labor Code
amendments developed by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and
approved in 1994 brought about some improvements. The Labor Code
prohibits partisan political activity by unions, but this prohibition is
routinely ignored.
In the 1992 Peace Accords, the Government committed itself to seek
consensus on revised labor legislation through the Socioeconomic Forum
with equal representation from labor (including groups aligned with the
FMLN), the Government, and the private sector. The Assembly passed
legislation in 1994 streamlining the process required to form a union,
extending union rights to agricultural, independent, and small-business
workers, and extending the right to strike to union federations. The
legislation also established a tripartite National Labor Council to
replace the Socioeconomic Forum.
There are approximately 150 active unions, public employee associations,
and peasant organizations, which represent over 300,000 Salvadorans,
approximately 20 percent of the total work force. The Labor Code
forbids foreigners from holding leadership positions in unions, but
unions freely affiliate with international labor organizations.
Only private sector workers have the right to form unions and strike;
employees of nine autonomous public agencies may form unions but not
strike. Nevertheless, many workers including those in the public sector
form employee associations that frequently carried out strikes which,
while technically illegal, were treated as legitimate.
Negotiations between public employee associations and the Government
generally settle public sector strikes, although the Labor Code provides
for mandatory arbitration of public sector disputes.
After a series of public sector strikes in mid-1994, the Government
threatened to use the police to open public buildings which strikers
forced shut. Beginning early in 1995, the Government began to expel
strikers from public buildings, an action which led to accusations of
government oppression. In several cases, the police used tear gas and
rubber bullets against workers. In the majority of cases, however, the
strikers violated laws and initiated the violence. In several street
disturbances, strikers armed with clubs and rocks attacked the police.
Public workers' unions claim that the Government failed to bargain in
good faith.
The law prohibits antiunion actions before a union is legally
registered. However, under the previous Labor Code, there were credible
charges that the Government impeded union registration through exacting
reviews of union documentation and strict interpretation of the
Constitution, Labor Code, and union statutes. ILO-drafted changes have
streamlined the process and it is now difficult for management to use
bureaucratic inertia to impede the formation of a union.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution and the Labor Code provide for collective bargaining
rights, but only to employees in the private sector and in autonomous
government agencies, such as utilities and the port authority. However,
both private sector unions (by law) and public sector employee
associations (in practice) use collective bargaining extensively.
The Ministry of Labor oversees implementation of collective bargaining
agreements and acts as conciliator in labor disputes in the private
sector and autonomous government institutions. In practice, ministers
and the heads of autonomous government institutions often negotiate with
labor organizations directly, relying on the Labor Ministry only for
such functions as officially certifying unions. The Ministry often
seeks to conciliate labor disputes through informal channels rather than
attempting strictly to enforce regulations, leading to charges that the
Ministry is biased against labor. Corruption continues to be a serious
problem affecting labor inspectors and courts.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination against unions. It provides
that union officials at the time of their election, throughout their
term, and for 1 year following their term shall not be fired, suspended
for disciplinary reasons, removed, or demoted except for legal cause.
Employers generally observed this provision in practice, but in some
cases fired those attempting to form unions before receiving their union
credentials. Even under the revised Code, there were credible reports
of government inaction following dismissal of legally recognized union
representatives. The law requires employers to rehire employees fired
for any type of union activity, although the authorities sometimes
failed to enforce this requirement. In many cases, employers convince
fired employees to take a cash payment in lieu of returning to work.
There are nine export processing zones (EPZ's). Labor regulations in
these zones are identical to those throughout the country. Companies
operating in the EPZ's, while providing higher salaries and benefits
than companies outside the EPZ's, strongly discourage organizing. There
were credible reports of some foreign-owned factories dismissing union
organizers. In addition, unions accused some companies of physically
abusing their workers. While labor inspectors and courts have been
ineffective in investigating and reacting to such complaints, the
Government has formed interagency committees (consisting of
representatives of the Labor Ministry, Economic Ministry, and the PDDH)
to investigate alleged violations.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, except in the
case of calamity and other instances specified by law. This provision
is followed in practice.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Constitution prohibits the employment of children under the age of
14. It provides for exceptions only where such employment is absolutely
indispensable to the sustenance of the minor and his family, most often
the case with children of peasant families who traditionally work with
their families during planting and harvesting seasons. Children also
frequently work as vendors and general laborers in small businesses,
especially in the informal sector. Parents of children in circumstances
such as these often do not allow their children to complete schooling
through the ninth grade as the law requires, since the labor which the
children perform is considered vital to the family. Child labor is not
found in the industrial sector. The Ministry of Labor is responsible
for enforcing child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
In July the Government raised the minimum wages for commercial,
industrial, service, and agroindustrial employees by 10 percent.
The new rate was about $4.40 (38.50 colones) per day for industrial and
service workers; and about $3.30 (28.60 colones) in wages, including a
food allowance, per day for agroindustrial employees. (Full-time
employees who are paid minimum wage receive pay for 30 days a month.)
Despite these increases, minimum wages did not keep up with the Ministry
of Economy's estimate of the increase in the cost of living. An
estimated 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty level.
The Labor Ministry is responsible for enforcing minimum wage laws and
does so effectively in the formal sector.
The law limits the workday to 6 hours for minors between 14 and 18 years
of age and 8 hours for adults, and mandates premium pay for longer
hours. The Labor Code sets a maximum normal workweek of 44 hours,
requiring overtime pay for additional work and limiting the workweek to
no more than 6 days.
The Constitution and the Labor Code require employers, including the
Government, to take steps to ensure that employees are not placed at
risk in their work places, and prohibit the employment of persons under
18 years of age and all women in occupations considered hazardous.
Nevertheless, health and safety regulations are outdated, and inadequate
enforcement remains a problem. Workers can remove themselves from
dangerous work situations without jeopardizing their employment only in
situations where they can present a medical certificate issued by a
doctor or the Social Security Institute indicating that their health is
at risk while using certain equipment or substances. The Ministry of
Labor attempts to enforce the applicable regulations and conducts
investigations which sometimes lead to fines or other findings favoring
workers. The Ministry has very limited powers to enforce compliance,
however, and has suffered resource cutbacks which curb its
effectiveness.
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[end of document]
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