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El Salvador: The organizational structure of the National Civil Police (Policía nacional civil, PNC) anti-kidnapping unit; protection offered to police officers of this unit who receive threats; the manner in which this unit is perceived by other PNC divisions and by the government (March 2006)

A representative of the Salvadoran Department of Governmental Affairs (Ministerio de gobernación) sent correspondence to the Research Directorate indicating that El Salvador's National Civil Police (Policía nacional civil, PNC) anti-kidnapping unit is called the Elite Division Against Organized Crime (División elite contra el crimen organizado, DECO) (21 Feb. 2006). This division comes under the Investigations Branch (Subdirección de investigaciones), which is under the direction of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (Fiscalía general de la república) and is responsible for coordinating and evaluating investigation procedures regarding organized crime (El Salvador 25 Sept. 2002, art. 9). The general director of the PNC is Rodrigo Avila Aviles (El Salvador n.d.). DECO is headed by [RCK1]Commissioner José Luis Tobar Prieto, assistant director of investigations (ibid.).

According to information from a representative of the Department of Governmental Affairs, DECO is an elite unit of the police force with the following characteristics:

[translation]

– DECO members have a profile specific to the work they must accomplish:

– Discretion

– Experience

– Discipline

– Loyalty and dedication to service

– Competence

– Rigorous selection process and appropriate [RCK2]security screening

– The school creates new headquarters [RCK3]for police investigations.

– International advisers:

– FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States]

– Police International Technical Cooperation Service France [Service de coopération technique internationale de police, SCTIP]

– Material resources available (21 Feb. 2006).

DECO's organizational structure is as follows:

National Civil Police (PNC)

Investigations Branch

DECO

Office of the Administrative
Attorney General ----------------------------- Support
of the Republic
Department of Department of Department of
Investigations Operations Analysis
- Central Region - Group 1 - Control and
- Western Region - Group 2 distribution of
- Eastern Region - Group 3 cases
- Negotiation - Group 4 - Analysis of
Anti-Crime Squad information
(El Salvador 21 Feb. 2006)

On 14 December 2005, at a meeting of the Special Committee on Transnational Organized Crime organized by the Organization of American States (OAS), the El Salvador delegation stated that

[OAS English version]

kidnapping had been a major industry in its country but had been eliminated. The key had been to restore the credibility of authorities. As a result, those affected did not hesitate to turn to the authorities, who, informed of the criminals act from the outset, could take advantage of the critical moments of the abduction process (first communication and turnover of the victim) to gather intelligence for future action in that and other cases. Other helpful measures taken were to purge the authorities, establish specialized agencies, and create a civil society committee to support families and authorities when abductions occurred (4 Jan. 2006).

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 indicated that, "according to PNC statistics, 10 persons were kidnapped during the year (8 Mar. 2006, Sec. 1.b). In 2004, however, "eight persons were kidnapped during the year, the same number as in 2003" (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 1.d). In 2005, "there were no reports of kidnappings by governmental actors" (Country Reports 2005 8 Mar. 2006, Sec. 1.b.).

A representative of El Salvador's Department of Government Affairs indicated in correspondence sent to the Research Directorate that the PNC considers information on the protection available to DECO members who receive threats as [translation] "confidential" (21 Feb. 2006). No information on the manner in which other PNC divisions or the government perceive DECO could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005. 8 March 2006. "El Salvador." United States Department of State. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61727.htm> [Accessed 15 Mar. 2006]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004. 28 February 2005. "El Salvador." United States Department of State. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41760.htm> [Accessed 28 Feb. 2006]

El Salvador. 21 February 2006. Ministerio de gobernación. Correspondence from a representative.
_____. 25 September 2002. "Reglamento de la Ley orgánica de la policía nacional civil de El Salvador." <www.pnc.gob.sv/marcolegal/REGLAM%20LOPNC.doc> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2006]
_____. N.d. Policía nacional civil. La organización. "Jefes Policiales." <http://www.pnc.gob.sv/la_organizacion/jefes_policiales/jefes_policiales.htm> [Accessed 15 Feb. 2006]

Organization of American States (OAS). 4 January 2006. "Síntesis de la sesión celebrada el 14 de diciembre de 2005." Permanent Council of the Organization of American States. Special Committee on Transnational Organized Crime. (CE/DOT/SA-6/06). <http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/SPANISH/HIST_06/CP15525S04.doc> [Accessed 20 Feb. 2006][RCK5]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Centro de documentación judicial; Centro de Estudios de Justicia de las Américas (CEJA); Centro de Estudios Penales de El Salvador – CEPES; Centro de información, documentación y apoyo a la investigación (CIDAI); Centro por la justicia y el derecho internacional (CEJIL); El Diario de Hoy, La Prensa Gráfica.