AP Photo: Victor Ruiz Caballero COMBATTING CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR Evaluating State Capacity to Reduce Corruption and Improve Accountability JANUARY 2020 | SERIES 1 University Institute for Public Opinion José Simeón Cañas Central American University Primary Researcher Laura Andrade Research Assistants Vladimir Chanchán Catherine Márquez Cristina López Cover: AP Photo: Victor Luis Caballero First edition: January 2020 San Salvador, El Salvador January 2020 | 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 COMBATTING CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR: EVALUATING STATE CAPACITY TO REDUCE CORRUPTION AND IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY 8 CITIZEN PERCEPTIONS OF CORRUPTION 8 LAWS TO COMBAT CORRUPTION 9 Constitutional Regulations 9 International Treaties 10 Secondary Legislation 11 Analysis of National Regulations 19 EFFECTIVENESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR 20 Criminal Prosecution 20 Prosecution for Illegally Obtained Assets 25 Prosecution for Administrative Crimes 27 PROGRESS OF EMBLEMATIC CASES 32 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 42 ANNEXES 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY 57 NOTES 65 COMBATTING CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR JANUARY 2020 | 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; COMBATTING CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR JANUARY 2020 | 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; The quantitative data in this report was obtained 8. Improving transparency. via the bibliographic review of official reports, institutional annals, and relevant information The Monitor reports are published by area and available on the official transparency web pages by country. The first series of reports will serve of the government bodies analyzed. In addition, as the baseline for subsequent analysis, which requests for statistical information were made will be updated annually. Each annual series via the Public Information Access Law (Ley de of reports will be analyzed in comparison with Acceso a la Información Pública, LAIP) of El reports from the previous year. This allows Salvador, which establishes a specific process researchers, civil society organizations, and by which government agencies must receive other actors to assess the level of progress in information requests and respond within a set strengthening the rule of law and reducing timeframe. insecurity. This report specifically analyzes statistical data The first round of Monitor reports will primarily provided by government institutions analyzed, focus on data sets from an approximate 4-year such as the Public Defender's Office of the time period, 2014 to 2017, in order to provide a Republic (Procuraduría General de la República, snapshot of Central America’s institutions. PGR) and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (Fiscalía General de la República, FGR). This information sheds light on public The Monitor will serve as a tool for searchable, defense and prosecutorial effectiveness in the easy-to-comprehend data, delineating trends, fight against corruption. progress, patterns, and gaps within and between the three countries of the Northern Triangle. Strikingly, no information could be obtained The data, graphics, charts, and reports will be from the judicial branch, namely the Supreme available on the Monitor’s website. Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia, CSJ) on crimes and sentences. As revealed by This report of the Central America Monitor the court’s Access to Public Information Unit produced by the University Institute for Public (Unidad de Acceso a la Información Pública, Opinion (Iudop) of the José Simeón Cañas UAIP), there were inconsistencies in the Central American University (UCA) aims to records of criminal cases of the different Courts define a baseline for the indicators related to of Sentence (Tribunales de Sentencia) at the analyzing the fight against corruption in El national level. The branch stopped producing Salvador and government capacity to investigate these statistics because the methodology of and administer justice for crimes of corruption. manual data collection could not guarantee provision reliable information. Consequently, this report does not include official information from the judicial branch. The report includes Information concerning citizens’ perception of corruption, which Iudop collected through various public opinion polls. COMBATTING CORRUPTION IN EL SALVADOR JANUARY 2020 | 5 KEY FINDINGS • Between 2014 and 2017, prosecutors faced several difficulties in prosecuting crimes related to the improper administration of justice—that is, public officials who illegally intervened or participated in judicial proceedings. Prosecutors also faced challenges in effectively prosecuting cases involving corruption in public administration. This report focuses on 11 types of crimes related to the administration of justice and 19 types of crimes related to public administration, as codified in law. • El Salvador has numerous and varied regulations, as well as norms and institutions, meant to detect and deter corruption. However, the country has faced challenges in updating certain aspects of these regulations and implementing other reforms that would more effectively deter public employees and officials from committing acts of corruption. • Notably, the 1959 Law on Illicit Enrichment of Public Officials and Employees remains in effect, establishing fines for public officials and employees convicted of corruption. This outdated law still levies fines for infractions in colones, a currency that El Salvador has not used since 2001. This law also establishes the amount that corrupt officials may be fined, which range between a minimum of $11.43 and a maximum of $1,142.86. • The Salvadoran government has made some strides in establishing regulations allowing authorities to seize illegally obtained assets and re-purpose them for state use. In another positive step, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice issued a ruling that eliminated a statute of limitations for asset seizure and recovery, stating that time limits should not determine whether authorities could recover illegally obtained assets. • Despite this positive ruling, the judiciary has contributed to weakened transparency and accountability in government, particularly by shielding public