EL SALVADOR TOUGHENS PUBLIC DISTURBANCE LAWS

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 001646

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS KCRM PTER ES
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR TOUGHENS PUBLIC DISTURBANCE LAWS

REF: A. SAN SALVADOR 1485


B. SAN SALVADOR 1611


1. (U) Summary: On August 16, the Salvadoran Legislative
Assembly passed amendments to key crime legislation that will
increase penalties for public disturbance. The party-line
vote was contentious, and the ruling ARENA party, which
promoted the legislation, was unable to garner the support of
its usual voting coalition. The timing of this legislation
is delicate in that the government has recently come under
attack from the opposition and from U.S.-based human rights
NGO's for prosecuting the Suchitoto defendants under the
terrorism law (reftel A). End Summary


2. (U) By a bare majority of 43 votes, the Legislative
Assembly voted August 16th to amend article 348 of the penal
code and article 294 of the criminal procedure code to
increase prison sentences for public disturbance. The
maximum prison sentence for public disturbance was raised
from two to ten years. The law also modifies the criminal
procedure code to prevent release of suspects on bail and
also eliminates early prison release programs for those
sentenced under public disturbance laws. The governing ARENA
party's 34 deputies were joined by nine National Conciliation
Party (PCN) deputies to pass the legislation. These
modifications to the law are the Government's answer to the
FMLN's apparent resort to violent street demonstrations
against GOES policies it opposes.


3. (U) The six Christian Democratic Party (PDC) deputies, who
tend to support ARENA's policies, abstained from the vote on
the grounds that the amendments amounted to an unacceptable
restriction on freedom of expression and assembly--the same
view promoted by the FMLN. ARENA claims that the amendments
are in keeping with the intent of the constitution, which
protects freedom of expression and assembly as well as public
order and the well-being of Salvadoran citizens.


4. (SBU) Comment: The opposition is almost certain to
challenge the new laws in the Constitutional Chamber of the
Supreme Court, but it is unlikely that the justices will
overturn the legal reforms. This vote should be seen in the
context of the increasingly contentious and polarized
ARENA-FMLN discourse on law and order as the country heads
towards the 2009 elections. The PDC defections on this vote
demonstrate the increasing unease at the center on crime and
human rights issues. As in the Belloso case (reftel B),the
ruling ARENA party continues its push to demonstrate a
commitment to public security and law and order. The
inability to get the PDC on board, however, demonstrates
ARENA's failure so far to make this strategy attractive to
its current and future coalition partners.
Glazer