La Mano Dura

Last updated

La Mano Dura ("Firm Hand" or "Iron Fist") is a set of tough-on-crime policies put in place by Latin American governments in response to the problem of gang violence, organized crime and insecurity. [1] These policies were put in place in response to popular calls for the government to do something about the problem of rampant crime. La Mano Dura policies have come under criticism due to human rights concerns.

Contents

Policy

Gang violence became an increasingly difficult problem for El Salvador in the 1990s and early 2000s, in the wake of the country's civil war. During that war, hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled to the United States, many of them settling in Los Angeles. It was in southern California that the two largest Central American gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Calle 18, were formed. After the end of the Salvadoran Civil War, the United States began deporting thousands of arrested gang members. This brought street gangs to El Salvador; the two gangs quickly became the largest criminal organizations in the country. [2] The country's murder rate increased to 139 per 100,000 people in 1995, making El Salvador one of the most violent countries in the world.

In 2003, President Francisco Flores of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) unveiled the Plan Mano Dura to curb the power of the gangs and reduce the homicide rate. Intended to be a six-month emergency action, the policy involved increased police raids in gang-held areas, greater policing responsibilities for the military, and tougher sentences for suspected gang members. Additionally, the policy "permitted the arrest of suspected gang members on the basis of their physical appearance alone". [3] In the first year after the policy was put in place, almost 20,000 suspected gang members, many of them young people, were arrested. [2] Up to 91% of those detained were released without charge. In 2004, the Salvadoran Supreme Court of Justice declared the law to be unconstitutional. Despite this ruling, in 2006 President Antonio Saca of ARENA announced the implementation of Super Mano Dura ("Super Firm Hand"). This policy cemented the tough-on-crime approach of the Mano Dura policy and included a series of anti-gang legal reforms, including changes to the country's Penal Code. [4]

These policies were largely kept in place when the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) won the presidency in 2009. In 2010, President Mauricio Funes responded to a series of attacks on bus passengers by suspected gang members by criminalizing gang affiliation and deploying 2,800 soldiers to assist the national police in fighting the gangs. The Anti-Gang Law of 2010 made "any legal act performed as part of a gang's criminal activity by its members or others on its behalf unlawful" and established a series of stiff penalties for gang-related crimes and activities, ranging from three to twenty years imprisonment. [4] In addition to gang suppression, the Funes administration put in place a series of programs known as Mano Amiga ("Helping Hand"), which included "social prevention, law enforcement, rehabilitation, victim support, and institutional and legal reforms". [3] These programs were praised for their timely interventions in communities previously neglected by the government, though were critiqued for being underfunded.

Effects and controversy

One of the main effects of the Mano Dura policy was an increase in El Salvador's prison population. It is estimated that between 2004 and 2008, the number of incarcerated gang members doubled, increasing from 4,000 to 8,000. This has led to a major problem of prison overcrowding. According to El Salvador's director general of the prison system, as of September 2013 prison overcrowding was at 320 percent. [5] This has led some prisons to be almost entirely controlled by gangs. Additionally, violence between MS-13 and Calle 18 gang members in prison forced the Salvadoran government to separate the gangs into different prisons. This has had a significant impact on how Salvadoran gangs operate. Placing gang leaders and large numbers of members together in prisons meant that gang leaders were often safer in jail than on the street. Access to cell phones has allowed gang members to run their operations from jail. [6] In response to government policies, Salvadoran gangs have formed more hierarchical command structures, become more selective in choosing members, and instructed members to dress in a way that makes them less likely to be arrested by police. [6]

La Mano Dura met initial success in reducing the country's homicide rate, with a 14% drop in murders in 2004. That success was short-lived, however, as the murder rate increased to 64.7 per 100,000 people by 2006. Murder rates remained well above 2003 levels until 2012, when a truce was brokered between the MS-13 and Calle 18 gangs. [7]

La Mano Dura has come under criticism both for its perceived failure at reducing violent crime in the country and over human-rights concerns. State security forces have at times been accused of committing extrajudicial killings of suspected gang members. [5] The arbitrary nature of many arrests of gang members has also raised concerns. Furthermore, some critics have been unnerved by the use of the military in police operations, given the country's commitment to keep civilian and military affairs separate following its civil war. [2] Finally, in 2004 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned Mano Dura. Despite these criticisms and the failure of La Mano Dura to reduce El Salvador's homicide rate, the policy remains very popular amongst the Salvadoran population. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Forces of El Salvador</span> Combined military forces of El Salvador

The Armed Forces of El Salvador are the official governmental military forces of El Salvador. The Forces have three branches: the Salvadoran Army, the Salvadoran Air Force and the Navy of El Salvador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th Street gang</span> Transnational criminal gang

The 18th Street Gang, also known as Eighteen St, Barrio 18, Mara 18, or simply 18 in North America, is a multi-ethnic transnational criminal organization that started as a street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest transnational criminal gangs in Los Angeles, with 30,000-50,000 members between the United States, Mexico, and Central America and is also allied with the Mexican Mafia, another US-based crime organization. A United States Department of Justice report featured the following statement regarding 18th Street and rival gang MS-13, "These two gangs have turned the Central American northern triangle into the area with the highest homicide rate in the world."

The Sombra Negra, also known as El Clan de Planta, are death squad groups based in El Salvador, allegedly composed mostly of police and military personnel, that target criminals and gang members for vigilante justice. The name first appeared around December 1989 in the Department of San Miguel. By April 1995, the group had stated that it had killed seventeen persons, claiming that those killed were criminals or members of gangs. These vigilante groups are based in El Salvador. The government of El Salvador insists the groups are not under its control.

A mara is a form of gang originating in the United States, which spread to Central American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Civil Police (El Salvador)</span> Law enforcement agency

The National Civil Police of El Salvador, also known as PNC, is the national civilian police of El Salvador. Although the National Civil Police is not part of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, it constitutes along with them the "Civilian Force". It was created after the Peace Accords were signed at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City on January 16, 1992, and began the operations on February 1, 1993, in order to guarantee the order, safety, and the public tranquility for every single corner of El Salvador. The PNC is a replacement of the National Police of El Salvador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ rights in El Salvador</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, non-binary and otherwise queer, non-cisgender, non-heterosexual citizens of El Salvador face considerable legal and social challenges not experienced by fellow heterosexual, cisgender Salvadorans. While same-sex sexual activity between all genders is legal in the country, same-sex marriage is not recognized; thus, same-sex couples—and households headed by same-sex couples—are not eligible for the same legal benefits provided to heterosexual married couples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime and violence in Latin America</span>

Crime and violence affect the lives of millions of people in Latin America. Some consider social inequality to be a major contributing factor to levels of violence in Latin America, where the state fails to prevent crime and organized crime takes over State control in areas where the State is unable to assist the society such as in impoverished communities. In the years following the transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, crime and violence have become major problems in Latin America. The region experienced more than 2.5 million murders between 2000 and 2017. Several studies indicated the existence of an epidemic in the region; the Pan American Health Organization called violence in Latin America "the social pandemic of the 20th century." Apart from the direct human cost, the rise in crime and violence has imposed significant social costs and has made much more difficult the processes of economic and social development, democratic consolidation and regional integration in the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MS-13</span> Transnational criminal gang

Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS-13 has a longtime rivalry with the 18th Street gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in El Salvador</span>

There have been persistent concerns over human rights in El Salvador. Some of these date from the civil war of 1980–92. More recent concerns have been raised by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. They include women's rights, child labor, and unlawful killings and harassment of labor union members and other social activists.

Crime in Honduras has become a growing matter of concern for the Honduran population in recent years. Honduras has experienced alarmingly high levels of violence and criminal activity, with homicide rates reaching a peak in 2012, averaging 20 homicides per day. Corruption, extortion, coercion, and drug smuggling also run rampant throughout Honduran society, preventing the nation from building trustworthy authorities like police, and severely limiting economic, social, or political progress. The situation has prompted international organizations and governments to offer assistance in combating crime in Honduras.

Illegal drug trade in El Salvador has included, according to some sources, trans-shipping of cocaine by the Nicaraguan Contras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in El Salvador</span>

Crime in El Salvador has been historically extremely high due to the presence of various gangs. As of 2011, there were an estimated 25000 gang members at large in El Salvador; with another 43500 in prison. The best-known gangs, called maras in colloquial Salvadoran Spanish, are Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and their rivals 18th Street; maras are hunted by death squads, including Sombra Negra. Newer rivals include the rising mara, The Rebels 13. El Salvador is one of the three countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America, along with neighboring Guatemala and Honduras, which are all afflicted with high levels of violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nayib Bukele</span> President of El Salvador since 2019

Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has been the 81st president of El Salvador since 1 June 2019. As a member of the Nuevas Ideas political party, Bukele is the first Salvadoran president since 1989 who was not elected as a candidate of one of the country's two major political parties: the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) or the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), of which Bukele had previously been a member.

Crime in Puerto Rico describes acts of violent and non-violent crime that take place within the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Triangle of Central America</span> Three-country region

The Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the three Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The term is used with respect to the countries' economic integration, and their shared challenges, including widespread poverty, violence, and corruption, which have prompted many to become refugees fleeing the three nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvadoran gang crackdown</span> Ongoing large-scale arrests of alleged gang members in El Salvador

The Salvadoran gang crackdown, known in El Salvador as the State of Exception or the War Against the Gangs, began on 27 March 2022 in response to a series of homicides committed by criminal gangs between 25 and 27 March 2022 which killed 87 people. After the killings, the Salvadoran government declared a state of emergency that suspended several constitutional rights and enabled the government to launch mass arrests of suspected gang members. The crackdown and state of emergency have since been extended 32 times as of 5 November 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism Confinement Center</span> Prison in El Salvador

The Terrorism Confinement Center is a maximum security prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador. The prison was built in late 2022 amidst a large-scale gang crackdown in El Salvador and was opened by the Salvadoran government in January 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012–2014 Salvadoran gang truce</span> Government truce with gangs in El Salvador

From March 2012 to May 2014, the Salvadoran government, the Catholic Church, and the country's two largest criminal gangs — Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang — came to a truce, known in El Salvador simply as the Gang Truce, to lower the country's rate of homicides and extortions in exchange for improved prison conditions and certain visitation privileges. The truce's principal negotiators were Minister of Public Security David Munguía Payés, former deputy Raúl Mijango, and Bishop Fabio Colindres, and the negotiations were overseen by President Mauricio Funes.

The Territorial Control Plan is an ongoing Salvadoran security and anti-gang program. The program consists of six phases and a potential seventh phase if phases one through six are unsuccessful. In 2019, the Salvadoran government estimated that the Territorial Control Plan would cost US$575.2 million in total.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mejicanos massacre</span> 2010 attack by Salvadoran gang members

The Mejicanos massacre, also known as the Route 47 massacre, occurred on 20 June 2010 when members of the 18th Street gang attacked two minibuses in the Salvadoran city of Mejicanos, just northeast of the capital city of San Salvador. During the massacre, members of Barrio 18 shot at one minibus and burned a second, killing 19 people in total and injuring 14 or 15 more.

References

  1. ↑ Cutrona, Sebastian; Dammert, Lucia; Rosen, Jonathan D. (2024). "Conceptualizing Mano Dura in Latin America". Latin American Politics and Society. doi: 10.1017/lap.2024.32 . ISSN   1531-426X.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hume, Mo (November 2007). "Mano Dura: El Salvador Responds to Gangs". Development in Practice. 17 (6): 739–751. doi:10.1080/09614520701628121. JSTOR   25548280. S2CID   144984287.
  3. 1 2 Wolf, Sonja. "Mano Dura: Gang Suppression in El Salvador". Sustainable Security. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 "El Salvador Gang Violence" (PDF). Law Library of Congress. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 "El Salvador 2013 Human Rights Report" (PDF). State Department. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 Dudley, Steven (22 November 2010). "How 'Mano Dura' Is Strengthening Gangs". InSight Crime. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Allison, Mike. "Homicide Statistics in Central America" . Retrieved 11 December 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.