The roughly 200,000 Salvadoran refugees granted safe-haven in the United States were set to have their temporary protected status expire on 30 June 1993, after President Bush had extended it a year past the prior expiration date of 30 June 1992. Advocates for the refugees estimated that another 500,000 Salvadorans were in the US without documentation and argued that conditions were still too unstable in El Salvador to repatriate such large numbers of persons en masse. President Clinton extended the temporary protected status for an additional 18 months, setting the new deadline for 31 December 1994.
A Board of Vigilance composed of representatives of all the political parties was created to advise citizens on problems they encountered in getting voter registration cards. This was important because refugees in the process of repatriation faced problems due to a lack of legal documentation.
The Government of El Salvador began to coordinate with neighboring countries for the resettlement of Salvadorian refugees. Representatives from the UN High Commission for Refugees went to Mexico to facilitate the return of some 250,000 Salvadoran refugees residing there. The greater portion of the approximately 7,000 refugees in Honduras and 20,000 in Nicaragua had already returned by the time the Peace Agreement was signed. Around 2,000 of those left in Nicaragua prepared to return as soon as the cease fire took effect. Over 250 maimed FMLN combatants returned from Cuba, where they had been receiving medical treatment. Some 200,000 Salvadoran refugees remained in the United States. It seemed many either did not wish to return, or were too uncertain about the peace process to return before it was complete.
The Legislative Assembly passed two decrees to help displaced persons and returnees gain/regain documents for certification and registration with the Government of El Salvador.
Organized crimes continued to rise and had some implication on human rights record of government of El Salvador. According to a report, the Salvadoran government’s human rights record improved somewhat in 2001. There was no report of political killings. However, there were two cases of suspected extrajudicial killings by police officers. There were no confirmed politically motivated disappearances. Torture, other cruel treatment and arbitrary arrests were constitutionally prohibited but the PNC continued to use excessive force and otherwise mistreat detainees as well as arbitrary arrests. According to the same report, impunity for the rich and powerful remained a problem. Police kidnapped persons for profit.
2012: The Salvadoran government generally respected human rights, but there were some areas of violation. According to the same report, impunity for the rich and powerful remained a problem. Police kidnapped persons for profit. Gender related violence and discrimination remained a serious problem. Some police officers committed killings, and used excessive force and mistreated detainees. Prison conditions remained poor, and overcrowding was a continuing problem.
Organized crimes continued to rise and had some implication on human rights record of government of El Salvador. According to a report, the Salvadoran government’s human rights record improved somewhat in 2000. There was no report of political killings. However, there were two cases of suspected extrajudicial killings by police officers. There were no confirmed politically motivated disappearances. Torture, other cruel treatment and arbitrary arrests were constitutionally prohibited but the PNC continued to use excessive force and otherwise mistreat detainees as well as arbitrary arrests. According to the same report, impunity for the rich and powerful remained a problem.
According to the U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, the government of El Salvador had some problems on issues related to its human rights record. However, the there was some improvement in the government’s performance. It was reported that there were several extrajudicial killings by police, use of excessive police force, mistreatment, arbitrary detention etc. Nevertheless, the new Civilian National Police was said to be improving its procedures. The report also suggests high organized crime, which increased after the signing of the accord in 1992.
According to a report, the Salvadoran government’s human rights record improved somewhat in 1998. There was no report of political killings. However, there were two cases of suspected extrajudicial killings. There were no confirmed politically motivated disappearances. Torture, other cruel treatment and arbitrary arrests were constitutionally prohibited but the PNC continued to use excessive force and otherwise mistreat detainees as well as arbitrary arrests. Organized crimes were on the rise.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proclaimed in 1997, “Massive human rights violations no longer occur [in El Salvador]. The systematic practice of forced disappearances, torture, the holding of prisoners incommunicado, acts of terrorism and summary and arbitrary executions on political grounds is a thing of the past.” The Government still had not ratified some important international treaties recommended by the Commission on the Truth, such as the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. The budget of the National Counsel for the Defense of Human Rights was cut significantly, hindering its ability to fulfill the role given it by the Peace Agreements.
Despite continued promises by the Government to improve the rule of law, rates of violent crime spiked, with 8,281 homicides—compared to an average of 6,330 annual deaths during the civil war.
At the conclusion of ONUSAL’s mandate, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali commented that the Government’s emergency actions to fight crime contradicted some components of the Peace Accords and set back improvements in human rights.
The general trend of improvement in human rights since 1993 continued into 1995. Disappearances ceased and murders of a political nature became rare. The Government’s enforcement institutions were improving on a similar trajectory, but still fell short of fulfilling all the recommendations from the Commission on the Truth. The office of the National Counsel for Human Rights elected a new ombudswoman in March 1995, and the profile of the Counsel rose thereafter.
In its final report, the ONUSAL Human Rights Division reiterated that the primary source of human rights violations in the country was impunity. So long as the judiciary and National Civil Police continued to fall short of the ideals established by the Peace Accords and the Commission on the Truth Recommendations, impunity would persist.
In compliance with the recommendations from the Commission on the Truth, on 30 March 1995, the Legislative Assembly ratified the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Government also formally recognized the authority of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
As of 6 October 1995, the Legislative Assembly had not approved most of the legal and constitutional reforms it was required to approve by the Commission on the Truth recommendations and the 18 May 1995 revised work plan. The deadline for these reforms was set for 31 October 1995, but the Legislative Assembly was on track to approve some of them no sooner than the end of November 1995, and others not before mid-1996.
The Office of the National Counsel for the Defense of Human Rights (NCDHR) released a report at the beginning of the year concluding that progress on human rights in El Salvador is hindered by contradictions. Instruments and institutions were forming, but international human rights norms were far from standardized and compliance was lacking in the country. Later in the year, the NCDHR joined with the National Counsel to establish a authentication apparatus for reports of human rights violations in the country.
The overall human rights situation improved after the regression during the middle of 1993, evidenced by lower numbers of complaints to the Human Rights Division of ONUSAL. However, reports of the involvement of FAES and National Police personnel in criminal activity, ongoing organized crime and political violence, and the systemic deficiencies in the rule of law tempered the relative improvements and marred the reputation of the new Government. A survey conducted during March 1994 revealed that crime is of greatest concern among the public, with 25% of persons reporting being a victim of assault during the prior three months. ONUSAL contended that the main source of human rights abuses was impunity, which stems from a weak justice system. The Legislative Assembly passed some constitutional amendments to incorporate some, but not all, of the recommendations from the Human Rights Division and the Commission on the Truth.
The recommendations from the Commission on the Truth regarding recognition and ratification of international human rights treaties and instruments went on unheeded.
On 10 November 1994, David Fausto Merino Ramirez, FMLN leader, was murdered along with other former revolutionaries, in an apparently politically motivated attack.
