Report No. 56781-LAC Crime and Violence in Central America Volume II September 2010 The Central America Unit Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit Latin America and the Caribbean Region Document of the World Bank ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AEDPA Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution APREDE Association for the Prevention of Delinquency/Asociación para la Prevenciónn del Delito CAMR Center for Attention for Returned Migrant CASAC Central American Small Arms Control Programme CEPEJ European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice CICAD Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission CICIG International Commission Against Impunity of Guatemala COFAMA Committee of the Relatives of Massacre Victims of El Porvenir CONAPAZ National Commission for the Prevention of Violence and Promotion of Social Peace/Comisión Nacional para la Prevención de la Violencia y la Promoción de la Paz Social CPC Criminal Procedure Code CPTED Crime Prevention through Environmental Design CIFTA Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and other Related Material CNSP National Council for Public Security/Comité Nacional para la Seguridad Pública CCT Conditional Cash Transfers CTS United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems DALY Disability-Adjusted Life Years Lost DDR Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration DHS Demographic and Health Service ECD Early Childhood Development ENCOVI National Survey of Living Conditions/Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida GIS Geographical Information Systems IADB Inter-American Development Bank ICD Costa Rican Drug Instiute/Institute Costarricense sobre Drogas ICVS International Crime Victims Survey IIRIRA Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act INACIF National Forensic Sciences Institute of Guatemala/Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forénsicas de Guatemala INCAE Central American Institute for Business Administration/Instituto Centroamericano para la Administración de Empresas INCSR International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports INEC National Institute of Statistics and Census/Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo JSCA Justice Studies Center for the Americas MINJUMNFA National Directorate for Children/Dirección Nacional de Niñez MS13 Mara Salvatrucha LAPOP Latin American Public Opinion Project OAS Organization of American States OCAVI Central American Observatory for Violence/Observatorio Centroamericano sobre Violencia OECD Organization for Economic and Co-operation for Development PAHO Pan American Health Organization PNC National Civil Police of Guatemala/Policía Nacional Civil de Guatemala PNUD United Nations Development Programme PROSI Panama‘s Comprehensive Security Program/Programa de Seguridad Integral SALW Small Arms and Light Weapons SEDLAC Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean SICA Central American Integration System/Sistema de Integración Centroamericana SICOM Integrated Computer Services SIPOL Software Police Intelligence Service UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNDP United Nations Development Programme USAID United States Agency for International Development WHO World Health Organization Vice President: Pamela Cox Country Director: Laura Frigenti Directors: Laura Tuck & Marcelo Giugale Lead Economist: J. Humberto Lopez Sector Managers: Guang Chen & Jaime Saavedra Task Team Leaders: Gabriel Demombynes Bernice K. Van Bronkhorst TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................................i CHAPTER 1 LEVELS, TRENDS, AND DRIVERS OF CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA .................. 1 1.1 HOMICIDE ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 1.2 ARMED ROBBERY ................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.3 ASSAULT .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.4 KIDNAPPING ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.5 BURGLARY .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.6 OVERALL CRIME VICTIMIZATION AND PERCEPTIONS OF INSECURITY ................................................................. 6 1.7 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ............................................................................................................................. 14 1.8 DRIVERS OF HOMICIDE ...................................................................................................................................... 16 1.9 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2 THE COSTS OF CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA ................................................... 24 2.1 THREAT TO SOCIETAL WELL-BEING AND DEMOCRATIC STABILITY .................................................................. 25 2.2 THE IMPACT OF CRIME VICTIMIZATION ON ATTITUDES TOWARDS CRIMINAL JUSTICE ..................................... 26 2.3 ECONOMIC VALUE OF DISABILITY-ADJUSTED LIFE YEARS LOST ...................................................................... 27 2.4 EFFECT ON TOURISM.......................................................................................................................................... 28 2.5 EFFECTS ON THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE ............................................................................................................ 28 2.6 OVERALL COSTS MEASURED WITH THE ACCOUNTING APPROACH .................................................................... 30 2.7 EFFECTS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH ...................................................................................................................... 32 2.8 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 3 DRUGS AND VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA ............................................................................. 35 3.1 LEVELS AND PATTERNS OF DRUG TRAFFICKING ................................................................................................ 35 3.2 ECONOMICS AND STRUCTURE OF THE DRUG TRADE IN CENTRAL AMERICA ...................................................... 36 3.3 CORRUPTION ASSOCIATED WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING ....................................................................................... 38 3.4 DRUG USE IN CENTRAL AMERICA ..................................................................................................................... 41 3.5 THE LINK BETWEEN DRUG TRAFFICKING AND VIOLENCE ................................................................................. 43 3.6 POSSIBILITIES FOR DRUG POLICY REFORM ........................................................................................................ 47 3.7 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 4 YOUTH VIOLENCE AND GANGS ......................................................................................................... 51 4.1 SCOPE OF YOUTH VIOLENCE IN CENTRAL AMERICA ......................................................................................... 51 4.2 CENTRAL AMERICAN RISK FACTORS FOR YOUTH VIOLENCE ............................................................................ 53 4.3 GANGS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO YOUTH VIOLENCE.................................................................................... 60 4.4 POLICIES FOR ADDRESSING YOUTH AND GANG VIOLENCE ................................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 5 SMALL ARMS IN CENTRAL AMERICA .............................................................................................. 73 5.1 THE ARMS TRADE .............................................................................................................................................. 73 5.2 GUNS AND HOMICIDE ........................................................................................................................................ 75 5.3 INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL ARMS CONTROL INITIATIVES ......................................................................... 76 5.4 ARMS REDUCTION POLICY: ................................................................................................................................ 81 5.5 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 6 CRIMINAL JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS .................................................................................................. 86 6.1 RECENT TRENDS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS ............................................................................................. 87 6.2 CITIZEN