File is not found

Cooperation project with El Salvador to strengthen the implementation of case management tools for disappearances and torture of women, men and youth linked to organized crime

San Salvador, August 24, 2021. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed with the Supreme Court of Justice and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security of El Salvador the cooperation project “Strengthening the implementation of management tools of cases for disappearances and torture of women, men and youth related to organized crime ”, with the aim of reinforcing the investigation of cases of disappeared persons in the country, through the articulation of institutional operational processes.

José Vila del Castillo, UNODC Regional Representative for Central America and the Caribbean, reported that the scope of this cooperation and institutional strengthening project directly benefits the Supreme Court of Justice, the Attorney General's Office, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, institutions that play a fundamental role in the search and identification of disappeared persons, as well as in the investigation and prosecution of cases.

He explained that the cooperation project on disappeared persons that is signed on this occasion is implemented from 2020 to 2023 and directs its efforts towards institutional strengthening in the management of cases related to the crime of disappearance of persons in all regions of the country.

“In particular, UNODC will coordinate the inter-institutional technical table that is installed this day (from the signing) integrated by the institutions of the justice sector with an interdisciplinary approach, which includes prosecutors, judges, forensic doctors and agents of the National Civil Police, and that will work towards the establishment of permanent and articulated operative processes ”, declared the UNODC regional representative.

“This project seeks to promote and strengthen the work carried out by the justice authorities in the fight against delinquency and criminality, through the creation of operative groups, training of investigation areas, search protocol and strategy, information analysis and forensic anthropology , as well as an increase in the installed capacity of the National Academy of Public Security”, indicated the Minister Gustavo Villatoro.

The President of the Supreme Court of Justice recognized that the signing of this project strengthens the interest and actions to face the reality of disappearances. “Considering the evident importance of the contributions that will be obtained from this project, I can only thank on behalf of the judicial branch of the Supreme Court of Justice for the contribution provided by the Government of Canada through the Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime”.

 

Important steps in the fight against disappearances

UNODC Regional Representative for Central America and the Caribbean, José Vila del Castillo, reported that for this work he has had the valuable financial support of the Government of Canada, which constitutes a strategic ally in the implementation of comprehensive programs to combat crime organized in the Central American and Caribbean region.

In that sense, he added, El Salvador has taken important steps such as the creation of the Protocol of Urgent Action to Search for disappeared persons and the regulation of the crime of disappearance of persons in its internal regulations. During the coming months, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will enhance these results and provide its cooperation to achieve additional results in the prosecution of this crime and in responding to victims, with a gender perspective, in favor of the realization of justice and the objectives of sustainable development, he reiterated.

“It is important to highlight that the actions and strategies to face this problem require the articulation of various state institutions as part of the comprehensive response to organized crime, for which we recognize the commitment expressed this day by the Supreme Court of Justice and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security of El Salvador, institutions that play a fundamental role in the search and identification of disappeared persons ”, concluded the regional representative of the UNODC.

During the signing, the following authorities were present: president of the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador, Mr. Óscar Alberto López Jerez; Magistrate President of the Criminal Chamber and president of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Legal Medicine, Sandra Luz Chicas Fuentes; the Attorney General of the Republic of El Salvador, Rodolfo Antonio Delgado Montes; the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Gustavo Villatoro; the Director of the National Civil Police, Commissioner Mauricio Arriaza Chicas; the Deputy Head of the UNODC Country Office in El Salvador, Nayelly Loya; the Director of the Institute of Legal Medicine Dr. Pedro Hernán Martínez; and other state officials.