Attorney General's take on crime in El Salvador
I'm not sure what the takeaway is from El Salvador's latest statistics on arrests and convictions provided by the Attorney General's Office. As of December 15th, there had been a 41 percent increase in the number of gang members charged with crimes ranging from illicit association to resisting authorities to murder. That could be a sign of progress but charging people with crimes is significantly different from convicting people.
With regards to murder, 1,350 gang members were charged. I'm not sure how many murders that covered, some gang members were probably responsible for multiple homicides, but there have so far been 6,480 people murdered this year. The arrests were also probably related to crimes committed prior to 2015.
It also looks like 540 gang members were charged with belonging to terrorist organizations. All were probably charged since August when the Supreme Court ruled that gangs were terrorist organizations. [According to this La Prensa Grafica article, however, 1,312 gang members have been charged with terrorism. The first 304 were processed for their involvement in July's bus stoppage. Authorities only jailed 112 out of those 304 people; the rest were freed.]
Then while gang members are blamed for anywhere from 30 percent to 90 percent of homicides in the country, and it seems all crime in general, "gang members brought to trial constitute only 16.47 percent of all people indicted during the period in question." This number comes from all crimes, not just homicides.
I'm having a hard time comparing this year's numbers to previous years and this year's charges to convictions. After reading the two articles, what do you think?
With regards to murder, 1,350 gang members were charged. I'm not sure how many murders that covered, some gang members were probably responsible for multiple homicides, but there have so far been 6,480 people murdered this year. The arrests were also probably related to crimes committed prior to 2015.
It also looks like 540 gang members were charged with belonging to terrorist organizations. All were probably charged since August when the Supreme Court ruled that gangs were terrorist organizations. [According to this La Prensa Grafica article, however, 1,312 gang members have been charged with terrorism. The first 304 were processed for their involvement in July's bus stoppage. Authorities only jailed 112 out of those 304 people; the rest were freed.]
Then while gang members are blamed for anywhere from 30 percent to 90 percent of homicides in the country, and it seems all crime in general, "gang members brought to trial constitute only 16.47 percent of all people indicted during the period in question." This number comes from all crimes, not just homicides.
I'm having a hard time comparing this year's numbers to previous years and this year's charges to convictions. After reading the two articles, what do you think?
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