by SAMIRA JUBIS
El Salvador prison cages seen by Vice magazine in 2013 PHOTO/InSight Crime
Following the impressive detention of Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, in part due to the work of the International Commission Against Impunity (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG), a debate has emerged in neighboring El Salvador. Although corruption has threatened advances in social justice and public security in the country, many question whether an international commission is the best solution to combat the deeply rooted culture of corruption in El Salvador.
After the peace accords of 1996, impunity and corruption in Guatemala have continued to plague the legal system due to “the military intelligence and counterinsurgency structures established during the conflict [that] were never dismantled.”[1] This challenge pressured the Guatemalan government to ask the United Nations to set up what became the CICIG, which evolved from the 2003 proposed Commission for the Investigation of Illegal Bodies and Clandestine Security Groups (CICIACS).[2] The CICIG was established to assist Guatemalan institutions in investigating, and ultimately uncovering, a political system deeply entrenched in corruption and impunity.[3]
The CICIG is a hybrid institution in that it is neither an international nor national body. Funded by the international community, including countries from the European Union as well as the United States, it operates as an adjunct to Guatemala’s judicial system.[4] It has relied on the work of experienced officials and specialists from Chile, Colombia, France and Uruguay, making use of 156 national and international officials.[5] The CICIG investigates, promotes, and supports the prosecution of the offenders. It also recommends reforms to ensure the future integrity of Guatemala’s institutions.[6] Within the legal prosecution process, CICIG can join a criminal proceeding as a “private prosecutor” with respect to all cases within its jurisdiction.[7] Due to the lack of prosecutorial powers, however, the CICIG has encountered obstacles.[8]
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