Tuesday 13 August 2013

Salvadorean police chief blames rising violence on gang fights, in-fighting

The National Police chief of El Salvador has blamed gang rivalries for a nationwide increase in violence that has recently taken the country's homicide rate to 10 a day, up from the 5-7 officials boasted had become a norm after a ceasefire criminal gangs ostensibly began in March 2012. Rigoberto Pleités said police counted 113 homicides in the first 12 days of August compared to 69 for the same days in 2012, and attributed the rise to territorial fights between the gangs and to internal fighting, El Salvador's El Mundo reported on 13 August. The daily observed that the Police chief would not comment on recent speculations about whether or not the gangs were still abiding by their ceasefire and commitment to gradually end violent crime. "The ceasefire...is not an issue for the police. We have always considered that if two or more groups are fighting and make a non-aggression pact, then obviously that reduces homicide numbers," he said. The police chief said he was not informed of a document reportedly issued by the World Health Organisation classifying El Salvador as the country with the second highest murder rate after Honduras. Salvadorean media reported on the document but it was not immediately clear when it was issued. The list issued by the United Nations agency counted 69.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in El Salvador, and 91.6/100,000 in Honduras, elsalvador.com reported on 12 August; it was not immediately clear if this rate was for 2012 or the first half of 2013. El Salvador's director of public prosecutions (Fiscal-General) Luis Martínez was separately cited as repeating his earlier position that the gangs' ceasefire was "hypocritical" and pledging that state prosecutors would continue their fight against crime, El Mundo reported on 13 August.

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