- Guatemala: During 2017, there were 942 violent deaths linked to organized crime groups; the victims were between 0 and 19 years old.
- Organized crime groups recruit girls and boys to commit crimes of kidnapping, extortion, murder, etc.
- It is urgent to implement judicial systems that consider recruited children as victims and not victimizers.
According to a report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; girls, boys and adolescents living in poverty, orphans or violence are prone to be victims of organized crime groups, gangs or gangs; the average age of the recruited victims ranges between 10 and 13 years. [1]
In this context, the #TejiendoRedesInfancia initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean, co-financed by the European Union; as part of the #NiñezPrimero strategy, organized the Webinar: Latin American Virtual #NiñezRecruited Seminar in the COVID-19 pandemic, what are the violated rights and protection obligations of the #NiñezRecruited?
In dialogue, Adonias Israel, an adolescent from Guatemala, stated that the girls and boys who are recruited by organized crime groups are victims of the violation of their rights, such as access to education, lack of health care, right to life and liberty. He also added that in Guatemala, during 2017 there were 942 violent deaths linked to organized crime groups, 9 people beheaded, 48 asphyxiated, 100 people killed by hanging, 66 by knife, the average age of the victims was between 0 and 19 years old. “We ask the states to create public policies to guarantee the rights of girls and boys; and greater investment in education to avoid recruitment ”, Adonias Israel said.
In this regard, Sarahi García, National Director of International Juvenile Justice Projects Mexico AC, pointed out that the recruitment of girls and boys also manifests itself through armed conflict; He explained that the mode of operation is similar to organized crime groups. "There are invisible borders, intimidation of the families of opposing groups, girls and boys used as labor or given by force as a guarantee to ensure the well-being of the home."
For her part, Patricia Colchero, Coordinator of Information and Studies, SIPINNA, said that to date, there are 11 thousand cases of missing children in Mexico, it is believed that they were recruited by organized crime groups to commit crimes such as the sale of drugs, kidnapping, extortion, murders, etc. "We recognize the great debt that the state owes to girls and boys, the state has not guaranteed decent living conditions, neither to study, nor to develop."
Likewise, Esmeralda Arosemena, Rapporteur for Children, IACHR, pointed out that organized crime groups use poverty and inequality to attract girls and boys, promising them better income or quality of life; For this reason, he underlined the importance of working on the implementation of a judicial system that considers girls and boys recruited as victims and not perpetrators. "We have to make this sector visible (...) so that attention to children's rights has the required response and that the judicial issue does not become another burden."
On this point, Grecia Granados, Deputy Director of Investigation of Reinserta AC, explained that the girls and boys recruited were initially victims and later perpetrators; In this sense, Granado agreed on the need to create specific plans and programs that respond to this duality and that allow the rights of recruited children to be protected. “The State has an inability to detect the cases of adolescents who were caught by crime; It is not only a problem of disarticulation, but also the apathy of society ”.
Finally, Juan Martín Pérez García Coordinator of the #TejiendoRedesInfancia initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean, stated that the recruitment of girls and boys by organized crime groups is a problem that affects several countries in the region; therefore, he reflected: “We have to talk about the violence and the human rights crisis that we have in the region; we have to take action from the family, school authorities, the more equipment we do, the better we are going to protect children and adolescents ”.
[1] IACHR / Thematic Report Violence, Children and Organized Crime.
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Press contact: Verónica Morales, Regional Communication Officer / [email protected]
About:
#ChildhoodFirst It is a strategy that provides guidance for the care of children and adolescents in emergency situations.
#Weaving NetworksChildhood, is a project co-financed by the European Union that seeks to contribute to the strengthening and consolidation of a platform for the defense of children and adolescents in 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of Derechos Infancia Mexico AC / #TejiendoRedesInfancia and in no case should it be considered that it reflects the views of the European Union.
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