Beatrice de Carillo, El Salvador

The Human Rights Ombudsman’s office in El Salvador was created in 1992 as part of the Peace Accords. After ten years of conflict, the creation of the office constituted an important step towards peace.

According to Article 194 of the Constitution, the mandate of the Ombudsman’s office includes monitoring and reporting on the general situation, providing protection for victims and increasing the promotion of human rights.

During its first years in operation, the Office of the Ombudsman suffered from serious corruption and incompetence; a crisis which resulted in the dismissal of the former Ombudsman.

The institution’s failure to protect and defend human rights was globally exposed.

With the election of the current incumbent a new phase of internal re-organization of the mandate of the Ombudsman has begun. With great public support and with the backing of nearly all parliamentarians, Dr Beatrice Alamanni de Carrillo was elected Ombudswoman in June 2001 and re-elected in 2004.

However, considering the visible deterioration of economic, social, cultural and individual rights in El Salvador, the Ombudswoman has encountered numerous difficulties in undertaking her duties, particularly by those who perceive her work as “dangerous” or “tiresome”.

Since 2001, a series of attacks of a particular nature have begun and are intensifying against the person of the Ombudswoman in particular, and against the institution of the Ombudsman in general.

The nature of these attacks and intimidations range from making attempts on the life of the Ombudswoman (in different situations), carrying out defamation campaigns in the media, blocking information about her work and placing significant limits on the institutional budget received by the Office, which is currently the lowest in the State.

Following the distribution of several reports highlighting issues of serious social concern, including those which allude to the possible return of death squads, the attacks against the Ombudswoman have worsened. A defamation campaign which criticises the institutional management of the Office is only one example of the way in which the honour of the Ombudswoman has been arbitrarily attacked.

On several occasions, some Parliament members, clearly acting under orders, have taken the extreme decision of calling for her dismissal. Fortunately, to date, other Parliamentarians have rejected this call.

It is important to note that, throughout the years, international attention and solidarity for the Office of the Ombudsman has been manifested in different ways. For instance, the recent visit of a high level UN Commission to El Salvador to study the situation further and to reiterate support for the Ombudswoman.

We finish this testimony, requesting human rights defenders to remain in solidarity and remain aware of their own safety in light of the serious attacks and intimidation of the Ombudswoman of El Salvador.