by Mridula Tirumalasetti

Impunity Watch Reporter

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador –A truce among some of the most powerful street gangs fell apart in 2014 due to escalating turf wars between the gangs themselves. El Salvador’s police chief Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde said “The groups which had opted last year to decrease (homicides) are doing the opposite this year. This is the main reason.” As a result, homicides in El Salvador skyrocketed by 56 percent.

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and its rival, the Barrio 18 made a pact which took effect in March 2012. The two gangs held this truce which helped lower the murder rate in 2013 to approximately five murders a day. This was a 10-year low for El Salvador. However, within the first few months of 2014, the murder rate grew once again to about 8.9 killings each day. The government has placed the blame on Barrio 18 for breaking the truce.

The National Civil Police stated the total number of homicides in 2014 was 3,875 homicides, which averages to about 12 homicides per day. This number is a substantial increase from the number of homicides in 2013, which was 2,490.

The gang situation in El Salvador makes it one of the world’s most violent nations. “One in three children had been directly threatened with death if they didn’t join the gang…One in five had quit school out of fear, and one in 10 is a prisoner in their own home, too scared to go out day or night,” explained Elizabeth Kennedy, a researcher who has interviewed many children who have been deported back to El Salvador from Mexico. The children were trying to reach the United States in an effort to escape El Salvadorian gang violence. “Deporting children back into these harmful situations is a violation of international law,” Kennedy added. Jeanne Rikkers, who is a youth violence prevention expert and works for the human rights organization, Fespad agreed, “Children are living in a constantly violent atmosphere. They don’t feel secure, physically or economically, and they don’t feel protected by state institutions.”

For more information, please see:

The New York Times—El Salvador: Murder Rate Soars—30 December 2014

Reuters—El Salvador homicides jump 56 percent as gang truce unravels—30 December 2014

The Guardian—Gang violence in El Salvador fuelling country’s child migration crisis—18 November 2014

The Huffington Post—Truce With Mara Street Gang Hasn’t Worked In El Salvador–08 April 2014

By Mridula Tirumalasetti

Impunity Watch Reporter

MANAGUA, Nicaragua—Protests have ensued opposing the construction of a $50 billion interoceanic shipping canal in Nicaragua, which has been backed by a Hong Kong-based company, HNKD. Road blocks were set up by protesters along the Pan-American Highway right after the official ceremony that marked the beginning of the construction of the canal, and along the Managua-San Carlos Highway.

Protesters are concerned that their homes will be displaced and threatened by the implementation of the canal. The canal will run through the rain forest and at least 40 villages, which include those of El Tule and Nueva Guinea. The canal is expected to displace at least 30,000 Nicaraguans, many of whom are farmers and natives.

However, the canal could also be a financial boost for the economy of Nicaragua. “Nicaragua, with this great canal, aims to move five percent of international trade conducted on the seas today,” said Nicaraguan Vice President, Moises Omar Halleslevens. The canal is expected to be more than three times longer than the Panama Canal, and is projected to increase Nicaragua’s GDP between four and five percent to 10.8 percent in 2015, and then 15 percent in 2016.

Chinese businessman Wang Jing, the president of HKND Group, promised to compensate “according to market principles in a fair, open and transparent way,” but many people are left feeling uncertain because of a lack of information. Further, critics of the canal have pointed out that there has been little debate in the Nicaraguan parliament about possible environmental consequences to Lake Nicaragua, which the canal is expected to pass through and to lands of the Creole communities and Rama indigenous community.

Nicaragua’s Police Chief, Aminta Granera, reported 15 police officers and six civilians to have been injured, but organizers of the protest estimated at least 40 demonstrators to have been injured. Police used rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas to disperse the hundreds of demonstrators protesting at the roadblock in El Tule on the Pan-American Highway. Granera stated, the police were “Faced with the use of firearms, machetes, stones, and sticks by the protestors” and also said that 33 protestors in the Managua-San Carlos Highway roadblock were detained by police, who acted with ‘tolerance and peace.” Granera added that the protesters were affecting commerce and tourism by not allowing people to move through the country freely.

Organizers of the protest stated that the demonstration was a peaceful one, but according to The Guardian, one farmer said during an interview in November, “We’ll use machetes, stones, anything to protect our land. My grandparents were born here. They say they are going to pay me, but I never put the land up for sale.”

For more information, please see: 

Al Jazeera–Protest against Nicaragua canal turns violent–24 December 2014

The Guardian–Protests erupt in Nicaragua over interoceanic canal–24 December 2014

Latin American Herald Tribune–Nicaragua Starts Construction of Canal Despite Protests–23 December 2014

Reuters–At least 21 injured in protect against Nicaragua canal: police–24 December 2014

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C, – United States of America – In the wake of racially charged protests, instances of violence have erupted and police tactics in dealing with such protests have been scrutinized. The protests have reignited a longstanding debate about how police forces treat non-white citizens. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked protestors to suspend demonstrations after two New York City police officers were ambushed while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn last week.

However, some organizers of the protests, including Answer Coalition, the organization which led the march on 5^th Avenue in Manhattan, stated that they would continue with their protests despite the mayor’s plea for a quell in demonstrations. The organization released a statement, which said, “[t]he mayor’s call for a suspension of democracy and the exercise of free speech rights in the face of ongoing injustice is outrageous.”

Marvin Knight, a 71-year-old African American from Brooklyn, expressed his disapproval of the Mayor’s request to suppress protests, stating, “[t]his is America,” “[w]hy should we stop doing what we know is right?” Knight argued that the call for a halt to demonstrations infringed on the protestor’s first amendment rights.

Compared with other countries the United States has a strong guarantee of speech rights, even if that speech displays racism or hatred. However, state laws make it a crime to communicate specific threats. Generally, a threat must have some degree of specificity regarding who or what is going to be attacked, or some other details of the threat. Context is important in threat cases, so much so that in 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that the burning of a cross was protected speech so long as it was done in an open field and not intended to intimidate a specific individual. The USSC on December 1, 2014 has decided to revisit the law of threats. The court intends to address the question of whether prosecutors must show that a person intended to threaten, or whether it is enough to show that a reasonable person would have felt threatened.

For more information, please see the following:

FOX NEWS – ‘To Protest is a First Amendment Right’: New Yorkers Defy Mayor’s Request to Pause Demonstrations– 23 Dec. 2014.

HUFFINGTON POST – Protestors Flood New York City Streets Despite Mayor’s Call For Moratorium – 24 Dec. 2014

REUTERS – NY Protesters Reject Plea For Hiatus Despite Police Slayings – 23 Dec. 2014.

REUTERS – Talk of ‘Wings on Pigs’ Threats on Police Tests U.S. Speech Rights – 23 Dec. 2014.

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – Following the murders of two New York City police officers last week, New York as well as the rest of the nation have erupted in both anti-police and pro-police protests. There has also been a drastic rise in threats against police officers, resulting in at least six arrests. The New York City police department has received more than 40 threats since the death of officers Ramos and Liu.

On Wednesday, Tyrone Melville, a 41-year-old Manhattan native, called the switchboard of Brooklyn’s 84^th Precinct, requesting to speak to Ramos, one of the slain officers, asking if the bullets had been removed from the dead officer’s head so he “could kill more cops,” according to Sergeant Carlos Nieves. Melville has since been charged with making terroristic threats and aggravated harassment. Another incident occurred through Facebook where, Jose Maldonado, 26, posted pictures of weapons and made threatening statements regarding the killing of police officers.While the United States has a strong guarantee of free speech, state laws generally make it a crime to communicate a specific threat against a police officer or anyone else.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association tweeted late Tuesday night that a threat was communicated to the organization by a confidential informant regarding a Baltimore street gang called the Black Guerilla Family who planned to storm New York City precincts for a shootout with police. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has denounced the various threats stating that the city “will protect the men and women who protect us,” and that security measures “will be assessed and police resources will be deployed accordingly.”

Other political figures are speaking out against the threats, including former New York governor George Pataki. Pataki has blamed the outspoken Al Sharpton for using rhetoric that has created incitement and fostered an anti-police environment. Additionally, former New York City police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, said that Sharpton and others had “blood on their hands.” However, Sharpton has presented himself as a peacemaker, and has publicly condemned the killings, while still defending the rights of the protestors to decry perceived racist police tactics.

For more information, please see the following:

CBS NEWS – At Least 4 Arrested For Threatening Police After NYPD Officers Killed – 24 Dec. 2014.

CNN – NYC Mayor Meets With Families Of Slain Police Officers – 22 Dec. 2014.

REUTERS- Two More NY Men Arrested For Threatening Police After Officers Killed – 25 Dec. 2014.

WASHINGTON POST- Sharpton Faces Criticism After NYC Officers’ Deaths – 23 Dec. 2014.