Regional Commission Against Impunity in Central America

[Judi Lynn]

Regional Commission Against Impunity in Central America
By Danilo Valladares

GUATEMALA CITY, May 14, 2010 (IPS) - The countries of Central America's so-called northern triangle, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, are studying the idea of setting up an international commission against impunity – an initiative that has the support of human rights organisations.

"Impunity in Guatemala has perhaps drawn more attention, but the situation in El Salvador is similar," Benjamín Cuéllar, director of the Human Rights Institute at the Jose Simeón Cañas University (IDHUCA) of El Salvador, told IPS.

A body capable of taking on organised crime in the three countries, which have some of the highest murder rates in the world, "could be extremely useful" because many organised crime groups "function at a regional level, and have never been investigated," he said.

According to Cuellar, the idea that a commission of this kind undermines national sovereignty "is part of an outdated mentality," because what matters is to "dismantle the parallel power structures that remain firmly entrenched in the three countries and that have serious economic and social consequences."

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51445

[Wilms]

1. Nice. n/t

[naaman fletcher]

2. This is good news

Am important first step in the war against impunity.