El Salvador: United Popular Action Front (Frente de Acción Popular Unificada, FAPU); treatment of current and former members; reports of "death squad" threats or attacks (1999-2000)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 2 January 2001 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SLV36172.E |
| Reference | 4 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, El Salvador: United Popular Action Front (Frente de Acción Popular Unificada, FAPU); treatment of current and former members; reports of "death squad" threats or attacks (1999-2000), 2 January 2001, SLV36172.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4beaa18.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to historian Michael McClintock, the United Popular Action Front ( Frente de Acción Popular Unificada, FAPU), formed in June 1974, was the first of a number of "'popular' or mass organizations" established in El Salvador in the mid-1970s (1985). The FAPU was reportedly made up of a
loose coalition uniting the teachers' union, ANDES, the two nation-wide peasant unions, FECCAS and UTC (a smaller organization based in San Vicente province formed some months before); and the main federations of urban trade unions FUSS and FENASTRAS. In 1975 both FECCAS and ANDES withdrew from FAPU, reducing it to a primarily urban organization based on FUSS and FENASTRAS (ibid.).
In an article published in the International Relations Journal, Benjamin Rogus claimed that the United Popular Action Front had a membership of roughly 30,000 individuals in the late 1970s (Summer 1999). In 1980, the FAPU united with a number of other groups to create the Democratic Revolutionary Front (Frente Revolucionario Democrático, FDR) (Ramos García and Rivera Artiga Sept. 1993; Quid 2000).
No reports of the treatment between 1999 and 2000 of individuals linked to the FAPU could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
A number of reports published in 1999 and 2000 refer to "suspected death squads" in El Salvador (La Prensa Gráfica 1 Feb. 1999; Proceso 30 Dec. 1999; AI 2000; Freedom House 2000; La Prensa Gráfica 1 Feb. 1999). The weekly magazine Proceso claimed that at least eight individuals were killed by "death squads" (escuadrones de la muerte) in 1999 (30 Dec. 1999). According to Freedom House's most recent country survey,
Although the 1992 peace accords have led to a significant reduction in human rights violations, political expression and civil liberties are still circumscribed by sporadic political violence, repressive police measures, a mounting crime wave, and right-wing death squads, including "social cleansing" vigilante groups (2000).
Amnesty International, in its 2000 Annual Report, stated that
A number of people suspected of involvement in criminal activity were killed by unidentified groups. There was concern that those responsible could be "extermination groups", performing execution-style killings, as victims were often found with their hands tied behind their back and shot in the head.
According to the San Salvador newspaper La Prensa Gráfica, a "suspected death squad" was responsible for the killing of at least a "dozen" individuals in the months preceding February 1999, with the majority of victims believed to be members of criminal gangs (1 Feb. 1999).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Amnesty International. 2000. Annual Report 2000.
Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. 1999-2000. 2000. Edited by Adrian Karatnycky et al. New York: Freedom House.
McClintock, Michael. 1985. The American Connection Vol. I: State Terror and Popular Resistance in El Salvador. New York: Zed Books, pp. 174.
La Prensa Gráfica [San Salvador]. 1 February 1999. "Alleged Delinquents Found Dead: Rebirth of Death Squads." Central America NewsPak [Austin], Vol. 13, No. 25, 18 Jan.-31 Jan. 1999, p. 5.
Proceso [San Salvador]. 30 December 1999. No. 884. "Los derechos humanos en 1999."
Quid Online. 2000. "Salvador, Histoire."
Ramos García, Raúl and Rivera Artiga, Victor Emilio. September 1993. La Actividad política interna y externa de la izquierda salvadoreña. Caso Partido Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario 1979-1991.
International Relations Journal [San Francisco]. Summer 1999. Vol. 19, No. 1. Benjamin O. Rogus. "The Transition to Democracy in El Salvador: A Historical Analysis."
Additional Sources Consulted
Central America Report [Guatemala City]. Jan 1999-Nov. 2000.
Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. Jan. 1999-Nov. 1999.
IRB databases.
Internet sites including:
Amnesty International.
Centro de Paz (CEPAZ)
El Salvador Watch.
Estudios Centroamericanos [San Salvador]. Jan. 1999-Oct. 1999.
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
La Nación [San José]. Jan. 1999-Dec. 2000.
La Prensa [San Pedro Sula]. Jan. 1999-Dec. 2000.
Probidad.
Proceso [San Salvador]. Jan. 1999-Nov. 2000..
Rebelión.
World News Connection (WNC)
