Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SANSALVADOR1037
2007-05-28 14:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy San Salvador
Cable title:  

EL SALVADOR: MCC DEPUTY CEO BENT MEETS WITH HUMAN

Tags:  ES PGOV PHUM PREL KMCA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7977
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHSN #1037 1481435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281435Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6431
INFO RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 001037 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ES PGOV PHUM PREL KMCA
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: MCC DEPUTY CEO BENT MEETS WITH HUMAN
RIGHTS OMBUDSWOMAN


UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 001037

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ES PGOV PHUM PREL KMCA
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: MCC DEPUTY CEO BENT MEETS WITH HUMAN
RIGHTS OMBUDSWOMAN



1. SUMMARY: In a free-ranging May 18 discussion with Deputy
CEO Rodney Bent of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC),Dr. Beatrice Carrillo of the Office of the Human
Rights Ombudsman (PDDH) outlined what in her view represent
the most serious threats to continued progress in rule of law
in El Salvador. Carrillo perceives significant problems in
many areas, including lack of respect for workers' rights,
incompetence and corruption in the judicial sector, and
inefficiency among the nation's police force, investigators,
and prosecutors. Deputy CEO Bent expressed the MCC's
interest in these areas and its commitment to doing as much
as possible, within the parameters of its mandate, to
contribute to solutions to these challenges. END SUMMARY


2. The meeting was held at the Embassy; attendees also
included Acting DCM Deborah Kennedy-Iraheta, MCC's Kenneth
Miller, and Human Rights Officer Philip Thompson. Deputy CEO
Bent began by thanking Carrillo for the opportunity to meet
and discuss her concerns, and he underscored the importance
of rule of law and the integrity of the judicial system to
the MCC's "Ruling Justly" benchmark indicators.


3. Carrillo discussed what she viewed as the poor state of
respect for labor rights in El Salvador, and related that
this was partly a legacy from wartime years, when some labor
unions maintained close ties with guerrilla insurgents. She
went on to offer her view that the problem was not due to a
lack of resources on the part of the Labor Ministry, as many
attest.


4. Carrillo decried the poor state of the judicial branch,
which she viewed as a symptom of the overall declining state
of legal education at El Salvador's universities. She was
especially critical of the country's Civilian National Police
(PNC),averring that they are widely feared by the people,
and that they represent the greatest single source of human
rights abuses in El Salvador. She stressed that lack of PNC
expertise in crime scene management and evidence collection
often resulted in failure to bring guilty parties to justice,
and cited the November 2004 murder of American labor activist
Jose Gilberto Soto as an example of this inefficiency.


5. Deputy CEO Bent listened attentively to Carrillo's
discourse, and asked whether, inasmuch as only long-term
solutions may ameliorate many of the problems Carrillo had
outlined, she might identify the most pressing issue
requiring the most urgent attention. Carrillo immediately
responded that, notwithstanding her personal respect for PNC
Chief Rodrigo Avila, the police are the most serious threat
to the continued consolidation of rule of law in El Salvador,
and that purging the PNC's bad apples must be accompanied by
significant improvements in training.


6. COMMENT: Post concurs with many of Carrillo's views,
including her assessment of the judicial branch's serious
shortcomings. We may differ in other areas, including the
harsh degree of criticism she conveyed regarding the Civilian
National Police, who are unquestionably one of the region's
most professional police forces. Notwithstanding occasional
differences in perspective, our continued engagement with the
PDDH represents a key source in the Embassy's staying
informed of developments in human rights issues as
implementation of the MCC compact moves ahead. END COMMENT.
Glazer