With regard to the prevention of offences against children and adolescents, the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic has signed cooperative agreements with UNICEF, the El Salvador International Plan and ActionAid El Salvador in order to implement the following project through its Multidisciplinary Support Unit: “Training of Young Educators for the Prevention of Violence and Construction of a Culture of Peace”. This project is aimed at adolescents and involves the teaching of modules on domestic violence and the construction of male and female identity based on gender theory with the aim of improving family relationships and minimizing violence against women, children and adolescents. One of the aims of this project is to make the target population aware of the legal resources that protect them, the appropriate mechanisms for filing a complaint and the governmental and non-governmental departments that should be contacted when they become victims of such crimes.
With the same idea of preventing violence and applying a gender equality approach, a prevention programme was drawn up in conjunction with ISNA aimed at parents. The aim of this is to provide information on crimes committed against women and children and also to provide certain tools for recognizing signs of ill-treatment, the cycle of violence and prevention mechanisms. The projects have been run in various stages since 2002. They were run in the following municipalities during 2005: Tejutepeque, Jiquilisco, Concepción Batres, Tecoluca, Acajutla, Comasagua, Nuevo Cuscatlán and San Salvador. A target group of 245 young people and 121 adults has benefited from the programme. Other violence prevention programmes are described in annex XXIII.
The Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic’s Women and Children's Unit and the Multidisciplinary Support Unit took part in dissemination activities with the aim of eradicating and punishing violence against women during national violence prevention fairs, and also in various activities carried out by the Network against Gender Violence. With the cooperation of private and public bodies, the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic has drawn up a paper on the femicide situation in El Salvador. The paper contains a statistical analysis of cases of deaths of women and girls and emphasizes the importance of focusing efforts on keeping a detailed register of factors associated with this phenomenon that will make it possible to recognize and raise the profile of female murder cases, taking as a starting point the level of violence that accompanies the committing of such crimes. It also emphasizes the importance of reflecting on the cultural practices or patterns of teaching handed down from generation to generation that promote violent behaviour and differential gender-related socialization, which often make it impossible to develop forms of cohabitation based on mutual respect, tolerance and esteem of others.
The Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic recognises that crimes against life committed against victims under 18 years of age constitute the most serious cases of violence against children and adolescents in El Salvador.
J. Missing children
With regards to missing children, the State set up an Inter-Institutional Commission to search for children who disappeared owing to armed conflict in El Salvador, through Executive Order No 45 of 5 October 2004. This began work on 13 June 2005, with the aim of cooperating with public institutions with involvement in or responsibility for child protection in the quest for children who were involuntarily separated from their families during that period in El Salvador. The Commission is made up of the following state institutions: Ministry of External Relations, which acts as the coordinator, Ministry of Government, Ministry of National Defence, National Civil Police, Institute for Full Development of Children and Adolescents, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Office of the Attorney General. In accordance with Article 4 of the Executive Order mentioned above, the Inter-Institutional Search Commission can also call on the cooperation and backup of other public institutions to help achieve its goal, such as the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Prosecutor's Office for the Protection of Human Rights and also private institutions set up to achieve the aims of this Commission.
A first draft of the rules of procedure was discussed within the commission; an Operational Team Action Plan was discussed with the aim of starting ongoing field activities; work was completed on drawing up an Action Plan 2005 and the work carried out by the Commission was published on a website: www.comisiondebusqueda.gob.sv. This informs users of the Commission’s structure and organization, human rights law, news, links for search submissions and requests and essential contact details in addition to participating institutions. On the basis of this, an Action Plan is drawn up every year, relating to the activities carried out by the Commission.
As far as field activities are concerned, the investigative team is made up of a psychologist, a social worker, three investigators and a solicitor. A logistical plan has been developed for collecting data, including the processing of special files for obtaining specific data, the planning of field trips and meetings when experiences gained as a result of the various forms of fieldwork are compared to establish progress in cases. The Commission is supported by the Department of Human Rights, which is a member of the Ministry of External Relations General Directorate of Legal Affairs and Human Rights and acts as its Secretariat. The fieldwork includes interviews with the civilian population and also with serving and retired military personnel, with state officials, with officials of national and international institutions, such as the Salvadoran Red Cross and the International Red Cross and Committee, from which valuable and important information has been obtained.
The National Civil Registry (RNPN) offers significant help in resolving cases assigned to it because it provides data on people related to case investigations, which makes it easier to locate them so that the relevant interviews can be carried out. As far as documentary investigations are concerned, visits have been carried out, obtaining access to the archives of various state institutions and mass media, where valuable information has been found and even photographs in some cases. Special emphasis must be placed on the conscientious and effective work being carried out by the Inter-Institutional Commission to search for children who disappeared owing to armed conflict. The first case resolved by the above commission was at the beginning of March 2006, the day young Teresa de Jesús Hernández was reunited with her biological family after 24 years of separation. This reunion took place on 19 March in 2006, in Canton San José, Department of Chalatenango. It should also be stated that as a gesture of goodwill and as part of a token action, the State gave Ms Hernández a house on 27 March of the same year, in a place known as Villa Lourdes.
Before each reunion, psychological preparation visits were carried out with the biological families and the young people who had been found with the aim of clearing up any doubts and establishing the expectations of everyone involved. Publication of the reunions between young people and their biological families has made it possible to bring the work carried out by the Search Commission to public attention. The Commission is nevertheless very respectful of the wishes of the families and young people and it leaves it up to them to decide whether their case should be publicized or not. Various search requests have been received for cases relating to the armed conflict and also missing children cases that occurred during the period of conflict but were not directly related to it. The Commission nevertheless willingly cooperated in the investigation of such cases and in bringing them to a happy ending.
The achievements of the Inter-Institutional Commission to search for children who disappeared owing to armed conflict since it first started work may be measured by its initial result of 46 cases resolved, which have led to 22 reunions taking place.55
