Guatemala city child and youth murders increase 26% in February
March 25th, 2003
The killings of Guatemalan children and youth under the age of 23 in Guatemala City took a dramatic turn for the worse in February 2003 as opposed to previous months.
According to data collected by Casa Alianza, an international agency defending children’s rights in the Americas, a total of 53 children and youth were murdered in Guatemala City in the 31 day month of January 2003, compared with 62 in the 28 day month of February; an increase of 26%. Firearms caused all the deaths.
In January 26 of the murder victims were children, under the age of 18, as compared to 20% in February. Fifty percent of the February murders were 18-20 year olds. Guatemala City has a population of just over 2 million people.
The bloodiest day of February was Sunday the 2nd with six murders of young people, closely followed by February 14th ñ Valentines Day ñ with five child and youth murders in one day.
“The bloodiest day of the year for young people so far was January 1st, with eight murders, illustrating the start of a disastrous year for children’s rights in Guatemala”, according to Bruce Harris, the Executive Director for Latin American programs for Casa Alianza.
A total of 465 children and youth under the age of 23 were murdered in Guatemala City in 2002, close to an average of 40 murders per month.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office responds to claims of lack of investigations by arguing overloaded investigators and a “lack of resources”. Casa Alianza’s Legal Aid Program has documented that less than 5% of the criminal cases brought against perpetrators of violence against children in Guatemala in the past decade have ever reached a conviction.
“Impunity, indifference and the unjust blaming of children for all types of crimes leads to the murder of so many children and young people in Guatemala”, claims Harris. “The social phenomenon of thousands of teenagers joining gangs that are violently repressed by society is another area of great concern. These gang members respond with the same violence”.
Guatemala’s war has not finished, it has just transformed antiviolence against and amongst the young.
For more information, please contact Casa Alianza at <info@casa-alianza.org>
