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ILEA Approved Today in Salvadoran Legislative Assembly
The Salvadoran National Assembly passed legislation today approving the establishment of an International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in El Salvador. The agreement between the governments of the United States and El Salvador was signed in July of this year. Since then, the ILEA has been operating out of the Comalapa Air Force Base, despite not yet having official ratification from the National Assembly.
Under the Salvadoran constitution, international agreements like the ILEA require a 2/3 majority vote of the Legislative Assembly. However, the government passed the ILEA with a simple majority vote. The same way that CAFTA was pushed through in December of 2004.
Opponents of the ILEA demonstrated outside the Legislative Assembly this morning and planned to hold a press conference there denouncing the legislation. In the end, the press conference was postponed due to fierce debate between FMLN and ARENA party representatives, and canceled when media representatives said they planned to use footage from the floor of the assembly.
In a public statement released this morning, the Movement for the Self-Determination of the People, a coalition of activists, human rights workers and civil society organizations; criticized the government’s handling of the ILEA ratification process for its lack of transparency. The movement also objects to the economic burden placed on El Salvador for maintaining the facility, the granting of diplomatic immunity to ILEA officials, the use of the military for police operations (which is in violation of the 1992 Peace Accords), and above all, rejects the premise that the United States plans to use the ILEA to improve human rights or increase public security for Salvadorans and believes instead that the U.S. plans to use the ILEA to impose its neoliberal economic policies on El Salvador. Read press release (in Spanish)
For months, ILEA opponents demanded that Salvadoran President Tony Saca make public the content of the agreement and develop an open process of debate and consultation with all social sectors before submitting it to the Legislative Assembly for ratification. The agreement was kept secret and was not circulated publicly until a member of the Central American Parliament obtained a copy of the agreement in October. To see the original text of the agreement click here:
Spanish Version
English Translation
The idea of an ILEA in El Salvador was originally introduced by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice at a meeting of the Organization of American States in June of this year. The State Department claims the purpose of the ILEA is to “help protect American citizens and businesses through strengthened international cooperation against crime” and “buttress democratic governance through the rule of law; enhance the functioning of free markets through improved legislation and law enforcement; and increase social, political, and economic stability by combating narcotics trafficking and crime.”
Given the United States’ track record of training Salvadoran soldiers and the brutal atrocities committed by graduates of the SOA military training facility at Ft. Benning, Georgia, the establishment of a permanent training facility on Salvadoran soil is troubling, even though its stated objective is the training of police officers and other law enforcement officials. SOA Watch Founder and President Fr. Roy Bourgeois told CRISPAZ that “plans for the creation of an [ILEA] in El Salvador should raise serious concerns for anyone who cares about human rights. The legacy of the US training of security forces at the School of the Americas and throughout Latin America is one of bloodshed, of torture, of the targeting of civilian populations, of desaparecidos. Salvadorans don’t need police units trained in military tactics by the US government; they need food, living wage jobs and access to healthcare.”
The U.S. first attempted to establish an ILEA in Costa Rica, but that effort failed due to widespread public opposition. Similar academies already exist in Hungary, Thailand, Botswana and New Mexico. In 1997, President Clinton agreed to establish an ILEA in Latin America.
25th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Four Churchwomen
This Friday, December 2, marks the 25th Anniversary of the martyrdom of the four Churchwomen. Click here to see a schedule of events in El Salvador and in cities around the U.S.
