AP Photo: Luis Romero TRANSPARENCY IN EL SALVADOR Assessing Access to Public Information NOVEMBER 2019 | SERIES 1 University Institute for Public Opinion José Simeón Cañas Central American University Research Coordinator Laura Andrade Primary Researcher Carmen E. Guevara Research Assistants Hortensia Martínez Cristina López Daniel Nieto Cover: AP Photo: Luis Romero First edition: November 2019 San Salvador, El Salvador November, 2019 | Series 1 The researcher and WOLA are exclusively responsible for the opinions expressed in this document, which do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the sponsors of this publication. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 KEY FINDINGS 6 TRANSPARENCY IN EL SALVADOR: ASSESSING ACCESS TO PUBLIC 8 INFORMATION Access to Public Information in El Salvador 8 ACTIVE TRANSPARENCY: INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO CITIZENS 11 Transparency Portal of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security 14 Transparency Portal of the Ministry of National Defense 16 Transparency Portal of the National Civil Police 19 Transparency Portal of the Judiciary 19 Transparency Portal of the Attorney General’s Office 21 FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF SECURITY AND JUSTICE AGENCIES 22 Regulations on the Declaration of Assets 27 INSTITUTE OF ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION’S ASSESSMENT OF 30 ACTIVE TRANSPARENCY Methodology Used to Assess Active Transparency 32 Transparency in Security and Justice Agencies 32 LIMITATIONS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION: RESERVED INFORMATION AND 35 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PASSIVE TRANSPARENCY: PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS 38 Available Statistics on Information Requests and Responses 40 Difficulties in Accessing Requested Information 42 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 48 ANNEXES 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY 74 NOTES 77 TRANSPARENCY IN EL SALVADOR NOVEMBER 2019 | 3 INTRODUCTION In the last decade, the problem of insecurity THE CENTRAL AMERICA MONITOR and impunity has deeply affected the people of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, The Central America Monitor is based on the making this region (known as the Northern premise that accurate, objective, and complete Triangle of Central America) one of the most data and information are necessary to reduce violent in the world. High levels of violence, the high levels of violence and insecurity, and corruption, and impunity have eroded the establish rule of law and governance in a capacity of the states to develop accessible democratic state. This will allow efforts to move and efficient institutions, and address the beyond abstract discussions of reform to specific needs of their populations. measures of change. The absence of effective responses has The Monitor is based on a series of more than weakened citizens’ confidence in state 100 quantitative and qualitative indicators that institutions, leading to an alarming number allow a more profound level of analysis of the of people who have been internally displaced successes or setbacks made in eight key areas or forced to migrate to other countries to in each of the three countries.1 More than escape the violence and lack of economic a comprehensive list, the indicators seek to opportunities. identify a way to examine and assess the level of progress of the three countries in strengthening Against this backdrop, the Washington the rule of law and democratic institutions. The Office on Latin America (WOLA), the indicators seek to identify the main challenges University Institute for Public Opinion in each of the selected areas and examine how (Iudop) of the José Simeón Cañas Central institutions are (or are not) being strengthened American University (UCA) of El Salvador, over time. The Monitor uses information from the University Institute on Democracy, different sources, including official documents Peace and Security (IUDPAS) of Honduras, and statistics, surveys, interviews, information and the Myrna Mack Foundation (FMM) from emblematic cases, and analysis of existing of Guatemala have developed a tool for laws and regulations. monitoring and evaluating the policies and strategies currently being implemented in The indicators were developed over several Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to months in a process that included an reduce insecurity and violence, strengthen extensive review of international standards the rule of law, improve transparency and and consultation with experts. The eight areas accountability, protect human rights, and analyzed by the Monitor include: fight corruption. This initiative has been made possible thanks to the support of the 1. Strengthening the capacity of the justice Latin America Division of the Swiss Agency system; for Development and Cooperation, the 2. Cooperation with anti-impunity commissions; Tinker Foundation, the Seattle International 3. Combatting corruption; Foundation (SIF), and the Moriah Fund. 4. Tackling violence and organized crime; TRANSPARENCY IN EL SALVADOR NOVEMBER 2019 | 4 5. Strengthening civilian police forces; ABOUT THE RESEARCH FOR THIS 6. Limiting the role of the armed forces in REPORT public security activities; 7. Protecting human rights; Researchers gathered quantitative and 8. Improving transparency. qualitative data for this report through reviewing the bibliographies of annual reports and official The Monitor reports are published by area and information available on transparency web by country. The first series of reports will serve portals of the analyzed state entities, specifically as the baseline for subsequent analysis, which portals of the Judiciary, the Legislative Assembly, will be updated annually. Each annual series the National Civil Police, the Ministry of National of reports will be analyzed in comparison with Defense, the Armed Forces of El Salvador and reports from the previous year. This allows the Attorney General’s Office. researchers, civil society organizations, and other actors to assess the level of progress in Researchers also consulted the Law of Access to strengthening the rule of law and reducing Public Information (Ley de Acceso a la Información insecurity. Pública, LAIP) and the Institute of Access to Public Information’s (Instituto de Acceso a la Información The first round of Monitor reports will primarily Pública, IAIP) annual reports. Additionally, this focus on data sets from an approximate 4-year report also includes requests for statistical time period, 2014 to 2017, in order to provide a information pursuant to the Law on Access snapshot of Central America’s institutions. to Public Information of El Salvador, which establishes a specific process for government The Monitor will serve as a tool for searchable, agencies to receive information requests and easy-to-comprehend data, delineating trends, respond within certain a time frame. progress, patterns, and gaps within and between the three countries of the Northern Triangle. To contextualize the data presented, the The data, graphics, charts, and reports will be research also includes articles that address available on the Monitor’s website. transparency and its importance in democratic societies, and Salvadoran news articles related This report of the Central America Monitor to advancements in transparency. produced by the University Institute for Public Opinion (Iudop) of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) of El Salvador aims to define a baseline for the indicators related to improving transparency and access to public information in El Salvador, with an emphasis on security, defense, and justice institutions. TRANSPARENCY IN EL SALVADOR NOVEMBER 2019 | 5 KEY FINDINGS • Thanks to efforts by the Institute for Access to Public Information (IAIP), El Salvador’s central transparency portal—a repository for information that government bodies are required to make public—features information from nearly 300 institutions. In another important step towards establishing a more open government, the IAIP has developed a methodology for evaluating the quality of the records released by institutions in response to information requests. Since 2015, this has enabled the IAIP to assess and manage official information in an increasingly standardized way. • Over the four-year period comprising the focus of this report (2014-2017), the IAIP’s legal office registered some 2,000 motions—this includes requests for information from public institutions, appeals over rejected requests, and sanctions against institutions for failing to respond to information requests. Notably, this four-year period saw a high number of appeals filed, suggesting that, despite oversight efforts by the IAIP, public institutions tended to resist full and prompt compliance with transparency laws. Notably, some of the security and justice institutions analyzed in this report grew progressively worse in terms of embracing active transparency, according to the IAIP’s scoring system. • El Salvador’s municipal governments and institutions are falling short when it comes to fully complying with transparency laws: nearly half of the country’s municipalities have not publicized information that is required by law to be available in the central transparency portal. Another issue is the lack of annual, consolidated statistics breaking down the number of information requests received by public institutions, and the number of cases in which those requests were judged to have been adequately resolved. No such statistics were compiled throughout 2014-2017. • According to a 2017 evaluation by the IAIP, which assessed how 96 state institutions complied with accountability laws and practiced active transparency, the Supreme Court